Son of a Tyrant
by WalkingDeadRox
Summary: After she and Christa are separated and she falls into the river, Clementine awakes on shore to see a survivor like her. And just like her, this particular survivor has a rough past. The two will face hardships... their strength will be tested... will they survive? (Sorry horrible summary, please read though). Officially, ClemXOC
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: If this is your first time, welcome to reading Son of a Tyrant. I can assure you that the story is a good one. It's a unique twist to Season 2. **

**As for veteran who have read this story, I'm going to start cleaning up SoT of grammar mistakes. Key word is try. **

**Finally, this is important. THE F-BOMB IS NO LONGER CENSORED. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. PROCCEED AT YOUR OWN PERIL. Sorry if that's yelling, but I need to get my point across.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Clementine's eyes fluttered open to see the hard grey stone of a once cleared out pathway that led to the river and a fire pit in front of her. On the other side of the burnt out fire pit was a boy. He had thick, shaggy brown hair and appeared to be two inches shorter than her. He wore a dark green hooded sweatshirt, a pair of blue jeans, and a pair of black shoes. He was asleep in an upward position with his head tilted down. Clementine cringed a bit noticing that the boy was in a very poor position for sleep.

She started to get up but she shuttered from the pain that was where her waist was. She must have hit something while being in the water last night. Her pain gave way to surprise when she saw that she was covered by a blanket. It must be the boy's blanket. She really hated to wake him up but she needed to know what happened last night.

Clementine looked to the boy and crawled over to him. She shook him a bit and said, "Excuse me, hello?"

The boy woke up and stretched before addressing her, "Sorry, I'm a little tight." The boy said.

Clementine nodded and said, "Hi, I hate to just bombard you with questions but… Do you know what happened last night?"

"Yeah, I found you passed out in the river and dragged you ashore." The boy responded. "I thought you weren't going to make it. I was really afraid that you would have died from hypothermia."

Clementine was shocked at how close to death she must have been. However, she smiled at the boy and said, "You saved my life. Thank you." Suddenly, she could feel her stomach growl. She clutched it and blushed. "Sorry, I guess I'm really hungry."

"That's fine. I have some food in my backpack." The boy said as he reached for his nearby backpack. He rummaged through it until he found a bag of fruit gummies. "Here, you want to split the bag; they're a little hard and stale but they still taste very good."

Clementine's eyes widened and she started to drool a bit. "Yes, of course!" Clementine exclaimed. The boy smiled and scooted over to give Clementine room to sit down next to him. She sat next to the boy and popped a gummy into her mouth. It exploded with flavor, strawberry in particular. She hadn't eaten a gummy in years. Before the apocalypse, Clementine ate healthy food like her parents but every once in a while her parents would treat her with gummies and other sweets. She ate another gummy and chewed on it slowly to savor the taste. "I haven't had these in years." Clementine said. The boy smiled at her. "What's your name?" Clementine asked.

"My name's Keith." The boy said as he popped a gummy in his mouth. He chewed on it and swallowed before he asked, "What's yours?"

"I'm Clementine." Clementine responded.

Keith smiled at the girl and continued to eat the bag of gummies with her.

After the apocalypse, there were few times that Clementine could admit that she felt relatively safe but Keith's campsite was warm and inviting for some reason. She enjoyed his company, and the two soon finished the bag of gummies. Keith started to pack up which included rolling the blanket up, placing it in his backpack, and zipping his backpack.

He stood upright and went toward a broken up boardwalk with Clementine following behind him. The boardwalk was out of reach for both. Keith looked at the crumbled up walkway and examined it. After a couple minutes of pacing around and examining it, he sighed and said, "There's no other way. I'll have to give you a boost."

Clementine nodded and Keith got underneath the walkway. He got down on one knee and brought the other close to his chest. His hands were cupped and he awaited for Clementine. She hesitantly walked to him and put one foot into his cupped hands. He grunted and brought her up the walkway. She grabbed onto a piece of wood and grunted as she hauled herself up.

She looked down to Keith and said, "Glad that's over."

"Sorry." Keith said. "If there was another way, I would have taken it. Okay, I'm next; I'm going to need you to grab my hand. Keep in mind, I'm short so you will have extend your arm."

Clementine giggled at his criticism toward his own body and extended her arm as much as possible. "Okay. Can you reach?" Clementine asked.

"Only one way to find out." Keith said as he jumped up and grabbed onto Clementine's hand. She grunted as she struggled to bring Keith up but eventually she got him up onto the boardwalk

"You know Keith? I was actually very short when everything happened." Clementine said.

"Yeah, rub it in." Keith said. "I'll beat you in height one day."

The two chuckled at their joking comradery and walked up a set of stairs that led to a clearing. Clementine and Keith looked over at the clearing and their eyes widened. The clearing had a couple of graves in the far left of the clearing, while on the far right there was a dead walker with a flagpole sticking out of its skull.

Clementine then realized that she needed to find Christa. "Christa are you there?" Clementine called out for her guardian.

Keith looked at her with a questioning stare and he asked, "Who's Christa?"

Clementine looked to him and said, "Christa is the woman who is taking care of me."

Keith nodded, and the two looked around the clearing to try and find her. Neither had any luck, and Keith said, "Maybe she's still out there, just not here. We'll keep an eye out for her."

Clementine gave Keith a nod, and they started to walk down a trail that led further into the forest. Both children walked on somewhat terrified by their surroundings. Clementine held her arms and Keith kept his right hand over a large knife that was clipped to his belt. The trees didn't help with the atmosphere; they stood over the two with an intimidating look.

The two children noticed a fallen tree on the path. Clementine struggled over it but it was Keith who had the hardest time. He wasn't very short for his age, but he was average height for a twelve year old boy. "Grr…I hate being short." Keith growled as he struggled to get over the tree. Clementine suppressed her laughter with her hand as Keith continued to crawl his way up the fallen tree trunk. Keith huffed and jumped off the tree and stuck the landing.

The two advanced down the road while keeping their eyes on the trees until a flock of crows came out of nowhere. The two gasped and took a couple of seconds to get their bearing. They kept going until they heard a rustle from the nearby bushes. Keith went into action and grabbed his knife. He crept toward the bushes with his knife at the ready.

Keith got closer and closer until he saw a dog sniffing the ground. His face went from worry to happiness in a matter of seconds. "Hi boy!" Keith exclaimed. The dog turned around and growled at him. Keith was shocked by the dog growling at him and he started to back away.

"What is it?" Clementine asked.

"It's a dog." Keith replied with a huge grin. Keith focused his attention to the dog. "It's okay, boy, it's okay…" The dog stopped growling and barked. Clementine rounded the corner and the dog turned back to being defensive. Clementine raised her arms as if to surrender as Keith said, "It's okay, boy, this is my friend."

Clementine got down and checked the dog's collar. "You're name's Sam." Clementine said. The dog released a bark which didn't seem to be intimidating. The dog snapped his head toward the other direction, and he walked further down the trail. "What's he doing?" Clementine asked.

"Something other than us must be in his territory." Keith remarked. Clementine turned to him with a questioning look and Keith explained, "I had a dog once."

Suddenly, the dog stopped sniffing and started to run in a barking frenzy. "Hey wait, what'd you find, boy?" Clementine asked.

The two children ran after the dog. The dog stopped at an abandoned campsite and sniffed around. The campsite was completely destroyed. Pots, pans, and empty food cans littered the area. One of the tents was burnt to a crisp while the other laid in shatter pieces. And a rusted out van sat near the edge of camp.

"I know this place looks bad but we should try to find some food." Keith said.

"Okay." Clementine said and the two walked over to check for any food. Keith was careful in checking the shattered tent while Clementine looked into the van. Neither was having much success until Keith spotted something.

"Hey, Clementine look, a Frisbee." Keith said. She exited the van and went to Keith who was holding the Frisbee, but she wasn't the only one. Sam went over and waged his tail and stuck his tongue out in an excited manner. "Hey you want to play?" Keith asked the dog. The dog barked in response and Keith threw the Frisbee. The dog ran along and caught it while it was in midair. "Good boy, can you bring it back over?" Keith said. The dog did so and awaited for another throw. Keith handed the Frisbee to Clementine and he said, "Here, you have a go at it."

Clementine smiled and said, "Thanks." She looked at Sam and said, "Okay boy, go get it." She threw the Frisbee and Sam caught it again.

Sam brought the Frisbee back to the two children and they took turns until Keith threw it too far and it landed in the bushes. Sam's ears went down and Keith looked to Clementine with a frown. "I'm sorry." Keith said. He then looked down at his arms which didn't appear too muscular looking and he continued, "I guess I don't know my own strength anymore."

"It's okay." Clementine said. "It was fun while it lasted. I know that this has been the most fun I've had in a long time."

Keith smiled at her before it fell to a frown. "Well, I was unsuccessful. What about you?" Keith said.

"I couldn't find anything." Clementine said.

"Darn!" Keith grumbled. He looked up and he said, "Well there is one place we haven't looked."

Clementine looked up to where he was looking at and cringed. It was the trashcan which had flies swarming all over it. Keith approached the object while he pulled the sleeves of his hooded sweatshirt up. He hesitated for a minute but pushed hands through the garbage and hoped to find something. Finally, he felt a metal cylinder.

"Jackpot!" Keith exclaimed and he pulled out a can of unopened beans.

Clementine and Keith went over to a log which was in front of a burnt-out campfire. Keith retrieved his knife and was about to stab into the can until he heard a very familiar gurgled groan. He lost all concentration in the can and he walked to the source of the groaning and growling. Clementine followed behind and they went over to see a walker tied up to a tree.

Keith's eyes widened and Clementine noticed the boy's fright. "Are you okay? Did you know this guy?" Clementine asked.

Keith shook his head to get out of his daze and he stuttered, "Uh…no, I….I'm just…shocked. I mean…whoever did this must have had a grudge against this guy."

"What makes you say that?" Clementine asked.

Keith pointed to the ropes and said, "Someone tied him up. There's no way he could have tied himself up."

"Who do you think did this?" Clementine asked.

"I'm not sure but I don't want to find out." Keith said as he got up and brought his knife up to strike. The walker snarled and growled but only for a few seconds. Keith stabbed the walker in the skull which killed the undead creature. He pulled his blade out of the creature's skull and noticed a red-handled pocket knife that was sticking out of the arm of the walker. He pulled the pocket knife out and cleaned the knife on the ground before he handed it to Clementine. "Here, that way you and I are armed." Keith said. Clementine nodded and took the knife.

The two went back over to the log and Keith stabbed the can of beans open. He looked inside the can and saw that the beans weren't rotten. He smiled and tilted can to Clementine, "Here, you first." Clementine smiled and cupped her hands. Keith poured some of the beans into her hands and then into his. The two enjoyed their meal until Sam came up and whined at the two. "How can I say no to a face like that?" Keith said as he offered a handful of beans to Sam.

Sam snapped at the food and gulfed it down in one bite; however, he wasn't satisfied and he snapped the can out Keith's grip.

"Hey, don't eat it all." Clementine said as she grabbed the can from the dog. Sam immediately growled and clamped down on the girl's arm. In one quick move, the dog brought her to the ground; it was surprising how strong the dog was. The dog lunged for her, but Clementine used her arm to keep the dog at a distance.

"Clem!" Keith exclaimed. He ran over and tried to pry the dog off Clementine without much luck. Keith brought out his knife and stabbed it into the dog's skull. The dog sent out a loud yelp before it went limp. Keith opened its jaw so that Clementine could get her arm out and Keith dropped the dog's corpse to the ground. He went over to Clementine and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Keith, you…you just killed a dog." Clementine said surprised by Keith's actions.

Keith looked down ashamed that he had to kill the dog, but he quickly became frightened. "Clementine, your arm…"

Clementine reached for her arm and cringed as she felt the sting of a bite. They looked at each other for a couple of seconds until Keith said, "I-I don't have any medical supplies on me." He sighed before he continued, "Well, I hate to say it but we're going to have to keep moving until we can find some medical supplies and then I could stitch up your arm."

Clementine nodded and Keith helped her up. Keith turned to the dog's corpse and approached it to retrieve his knife. The two then went down the path and away from the camp and the dead dog.

* * *

As Keith continued down the path, Clementine started to fall behind and eventually stopped altogether to lay down next to a rock. Keith looked back to see her slouched against the rock and he ran up to her. "Clementine, are you okay?" Keith asked.

Clementine only groaned in response. Keith put his hand on her forehead and said, "You got a bit of a fever. That dog must have been carrying something." Suddenly, a twig snapped and a groan accompanied it. Both children perked up and saw a walker approaching them. More growling and groaning came; it was like they were being surrounded. "Shoot! We got to move." Keith said as he helped Clementine to her feet. She was still exhausted and partially slumped on Keith. In turn, Keith supported the girl while keeping his right arm around her back.

Clementine grew weaker with each step until Keith was practically carrying her. "Clem, I can't carry you." Keith said before a walker knocked them both down. Another walker came in from the right and was going to attack Clementine, while the other walker that knocked the two children down tried to chomp down on Keith's neck. Keith struggled with the walker and saw that Clementine was struggling to get up. He yelled to get his adrenaline pumping but even with the extra strength, he could only hold the walker back for so long.

Meanwhile, the other walker got on top of Clementine and was about to bite down on her leg when an arrow landed into the walker's skull. Two men came into view. One was armed with a machete and the other was older and armed with a crossbow. The older man reloaded as the other man noticed Keith struggling with the walker and sliced the walker's head off. The one armed with a crossbow aimed and shot another walker as the man armed with the machete helped get the walker off of Keith and helped him up.

The man armed with the crossbow reloaded and shot another walker that was coming toward them. "I'm out." The man said to the younger man. "Grab her and let's go."

The man armed with the machete said, "Come on kid." He squatted down and picked Clementine up and turned to Keith. "Try to keep up with us." He and the older man then darted deeper into the forest with Keith following close behind. They had a few close encounters with the walkers, but they still escaped.

* * *

They finally stopped and the older man with the crossbow huffed, "I-I think we lost them."

The younger man looked behind and looked back to the older man. "Yeah we're good." The younger man replied. The two looked down to Clementine as she seemed to relax in the younger man's grip. "Hey kid, you alright?"

"I'm fine… just let me go." Clementine said as she struggled out of the man's grip.

"Clem, it's alright." Keith said. "They saved us back there."

"Yeah, kid, you were barely able to crawl away from that lurker." The man that was carrying her said. "You're in bad shape, kid." The man started to walk forward and Keith walked alongside him to keep Clementine calm.

"What are you two doing out here?" The older man asked. "Where are the people you are with?"

"Yeah, because there's no way you two have survived this long on your own."

"I was with my friend when we were attacked." Clementine said.

"I found Clementine in the river and brought her to shore." Keith explained.

"Wait, who attacked you?" The man asked. "I mean did these say what they wanted? Were they looking for anyone?"

"They probably wanted the food we had. We were cooking some kind of weasel." Clementine replied.

"They attacked you for a weasel? Man that's low." The man said with a disappointed tone in his voice. "Well anyway, my name's Luke and this here is Pete." The man motioned to the older man. "And I'm guessing your name is Clementine." Clementine nodded in response and Luke looked to Keith. "What's your name?" Luke asked.

"Blake." Keith lied. Clementine looked at him with a perplexed stare, but Keith stared back to the road and avoided her stare.

"Well it's nice to meet you both." Luke said and he looked down at Clementine. "Pete and I are going to take you back to our cabin. You look like you could use some-" Luke stopped himself as he looked down at the bite on Clementine's arm and he jumped back. "Oh shit!" Luke exclaimed as he dropped her.

Clementine grunted when she hit the ground and Pete looked at Luke with a questioning stare, "What? What is it?" Pete asked.

"She's- She's been bit man." Luke said. He began to pace back and forth and he exclaimed, "Shit, shit! What are we going to do?"

"No, it was a dog." Clementine said.

"I didn't see no dog, Clementine." Pete said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Come on kid! We saw you with all of those lurkers back there." Luke said as he continued to panic.

"No it's true. It was a dog. I-I had to kill the dog with my knife to prevent it from hurting her." Keith said.

"You what?" Luke exclaimed.

"Pease just look at her arm. She's telling you the truth." Keith pleaded with the two men.

"Oh right, and have her bite down on Pete's neck." Luke argued.

"My neck? Why am I the one?" Pete asked.

"Because man, I don't know a dog bite, from a lurker bite, from a mosquito bite!" Luke exclaimed.

Pete looked down at Clementine who sat there hoping that the men would believe her. Her eyes turned to Pete and widened like sad eyes. Pete huffed, "Alright, let's take a look."

"Hey man watch yourself." Luke said. Clementine glared at Luke in response and he said, "Hey don't look at me like that. You're the one who's bit here." He then turned around to avoid her stare.

Pete rolled up Clem's sleeve and examined the wound, "See."

"Is it as they say?" Luke asked.

"Hmm… I don't know. It could be dog." Pete said. "We'll take her to Carlos and he can have a better look."

"Are you sure?" Luke asked.

"Well I'm sure that I ain't willing to leave an injured little girl in the wood, when we have a doctor who could make a better call." Pete said.

Luke scowled and said, "Nick ain't going to like this, not after-"

"You don't need to remind me of that, boy!" Pete snapped.

Luke lost his scowl and apologized, "Yes sir. Sorry sir." Pete put a comforting hand on his shoulder and nodded toward a structure in the distance. The structure was a cabin. The two men walked toward the structure as Keith helped Clementine up.

"Why did you lie about your name?" Clementine whispered.

Keith looked down with a frown and said, "Some things are just not that simple anymore."

"Hey, come on you two, keep up." Luke said.

"Come on." Keith said and Clementine followed. However, her pace was slow and she struggled to keep walking.

Pete looked behind and asked, "Clementine, are you feeling alright?" Pete asked.

Luke and Keith turned around as she responded, "I'm fine… I'm just… tired…"

"Well you better be fine because I ain't carrying you with that bite on your arm." Luke said.

"Clem, you need help?" Keith asked.

"Hey man, she's bit! Get away from her!" Luke snapped.

"So what?" Keith snapped at Luke.

Keith turned around just in time to see Clementine's eyes roll back and her body began to slump. He ran to her as Luke exclaimed, "Ah shit." Thanks to Keith's quick reflexes, he was able to catch Clementine before she hit the ground. He grunted as he lifted her up and allowed her to lean against him but he struggled. Pete and Luke walked up to him.

He turned around and glared at the two men, "Are you two going to help me or what?" Keith asked.

"What? So we can get bit?" Luke inquired. "Pass."

"Well I can't carry her." Keith said. "She's too tall."

"Here, I'll take over." Pete offered and he took the girl from Keith. The boy looked to Pete with a thankful stare. "Come on let's go to the cabin." Pete said and the three went to the building.

"You better be right about your friend being bit by a dog." Luke said in a harsh tone of voice. "I don't appreciate being lied to."

"I promise, she was bit by a dog." Keith said.

Luke sighed and he said, "Blake, I'm sorry about earlier. I mean I'm... we have had a bad experience and it just hasn't been easy to move on from it."

"It's okay." Keith replied. "I'm sorry too." Luke smiled to the young boy as he, Pete and Keith exited the woods.

"I'm going to go get Carlos." Luke said and he ran into the house.

Suddenly, two men and a woman came out of the house as Luke went in.

"What the f*** Luke? What's going on?" A man that was around Luke's age exclaimed. There was some arguing among the two along with a pregnant woman and a stocky man exiting the house. They talked with Luke for a few seconds before they headed down the stairs. Keith couldn't hear any of their conversations but he knew it wasn't good. The pregnant woman approached Pete and Keith. Keith looked down with a frown and he sighed. He knew that he was about to receive hell.

"What the fuck is this?" The woman, Rebecca, exclaimed.

"Now hold up Rebecca." Pete said.

"You brought the fucking enemy to our fucking front doorstep!" Rebecca shouted as Nick and Alvin approached them.

"What are you talking about, Rebecca?" Pete asked.

"Rebecca please! I need your help!" Keith pleaded.

"My help? You must be out of your mind coming here, you little shit." Rebecca hissed.

"Rebecca, he's just a boy." Pete argued. "He said his name is Blake."

"Oh, so you fucking lied to him." Rebecca said to Keith.

"You know him?" Pete asked Rebecca.

"I'm sorry but I knew if I told you the truth then you wouldn't have helped me or my friend. If anything, you would have shot me." Keith said.

"What is your name, then?" A man with a hunting rifle inquired.

A few minutes passed by and Keith sighed. He wasn't sure what would happen when he would respond. "It's Keith." The boy said.

Nick and Pete looked at each other and shrugged. The name had no relevance to them. "Oh for fuck sakes, Keith Blake Carver!" Rebecca exclaimed to the two men. "He's Carver's son!"

Both men were surprised and looked to the boy. All four group member's eyes were on Keith while Nick raised his hunting rifle. There wasn't much Keith could do but stand there looking down to the ground. His secret was out and he wasn't sure what was going to happen next. To add on top of it all, he had successfully dragged someone he just met into this complicated mess.

…**To be continued.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I want to thank everyone for their reviews on the first chapter. Sorry, I'm not usually a review freak but the last Walking Dead fanfiction I did kind of got mixed results. I had no idea if you guys liked it or hated it. Either way, I'll try not to butcher this fanfiction.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own**_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

"I need a doc-" A voice said and Nick jumped. With his finger pressed against the trigger, he fired and grazed Keith in the shoulder. He yelped in pain and the impact forced him to the ground. "Keith!" Clementine exclaimed as her eyes widened in horror. Keith laid on the ground clutching his arm and whimpered in pain.

"Dammit boy!" Pete scolded Nick. "Why'd you do that for?" He wrestled the gun away from his nephew's grasp.

"Hey, she surprised me. It's not my fault." Nick said.

The door to the cabin swung open and Luke exclaimed, "Whoa, whoa! What the fuck!" He then ran towards the group.

"You idiot! Every lurker for five miles probably heard that." Rebecca snapped at Nick.

"Hey, you're the one who wanted that dumb fuck dead." Nick replied as he gestured to Keith. Meanwhile, Keith hissed and whimpered in pain.

"Clementine, Blake, are you both alright?" Luke asked. He noticed Keith on the ground and said, "Nick, you asshole! You shot Blake!"

"Luke, his name is not Blake." Rebecca said. "It's Keith."

"Wait, Keith? Like Keith Carver?" Luke asked.

"Fucking duh." Rebecca said.

"Please, we need a doctor." Clementine begged the group.

"I don't think so." Rebecca spat. "You're fucking lying to us about a dog biting you and that brat will only tell Bill where we're at. We should just kill them."

A middle-aged man approached Clementine and he said, "Let me take a look at her arm."

Clementine was unsure and looked to Luke for confirmation to trust the man. "It's alright. He's a doctor." Luke said. He turned and walked over to Keith. He extended his hand out and helped him up as the boy grunted in pain.

"Luke, get the fuck away from him." Nick snapped.

"Look, I don't care if he is Carver's son. That doesn't mean that he is some scum of the earth like his old man." Luke argued. "He saved that girl, Clementine, from drowning."

"He also saved me from dying from hypothermia." Clementine said. She then cringed as the doctor continued to examine her arm.

"Whatever it was, it got you good." The doctor said.

Nick glared at Clementine, and he went up to Luke. "This isn't how we do things, man. When you're bit, you get put down. End of story! I'm not going through this again!" Nick said.

"No one's suggesting that." Luke said as he raised his hands up in surrender.

"We could take her arm off." Pete said. Clementine gasped but Pete continued, "I know that worked for a cousin down in Ainsworth. We can try that."

"It won't do any good." Rebecca said. "We'll just waste more supplies that way… supplies that we need."

"Yeah, and besides, no one is going to volunteer to do that!" Nick exclaimed.

"I would if it meant saving her life." Pete said.

"You don't want to do something you'll regret. Better to be sure, right?" Clementine said.

Pete smiled and he said, "Come on, she weighs as much as a sack of flour. We can take her if it comes to that?" Clementine was relieved to hear that Pete changed his mind on cutting off her arm, but she was still worried about getting her arm stitched and cleaned up.

"And what about him?" Nick said as he glared at Keith.

"He's injured. We got to help him." Pete said.

"The hell we will." Rebecca spat.

"You and I are in the same boat." Keith said to Rebecca. "Carver's trying to hunt me down, too."

"That's fucking bullshit." Nick snapped at Keith.

"Who are they?" A young girl asked from the porch door. She wore a pair of red thick rimmed glasses with a blue jacket, blue jeans and black boats.

"Sarah, what did I say? Stay inside." The doctor said. The girl nodded and she retreated back into the house.

"I don't mean to be any trouble." Clementine said. "I just want to clean the wound and then we're gone. You'll never see us again."

"No way! Keith ain't going with you, if anything we should just fucking shoot him!" Nick exclaimed.

"Yes, we should." Rebecca said.

"Nick!" Pete exclaimed.

"No!" Clementine exclaimed.

The doctor got up and said, "We aren't doing anything. They'll both stay in the shed tonight. If she's alive in the morning, I'll fix her wound. We'll hold a meeting on what to do with Keith."

"But my arm… it needs cleaned, stitched and bandaged." Clementine said.

"The girl is in bad shape, Carlos." Luke said.

"We have all that stuff inside the cabin. We should probably get by with-" The stocky man said but he was interrupted by Rebecca.

"Alvin please." Rebecca said.

"But yeah, we can't do nothing." Alvin said.

"I'm not wasting supplies on a lurker bite. If it turns out that you are telling the truth, then I'll clean it and stitch it for you in the morning." Carlos said. He then looked over to Keith and said, "And I don't want you anywhere near my daughter."

"But…" Clementine said. However, Carlos walked away from the two children.

"I'm sorry but that's about the best that you're going to get." Luke said.

Nick went up to retrieve his rifle and Pete said, "Finger off the trigger son and try not to shoot anyone this time."

"I'm not your son." Nick snapped and he took the rifle from his uncle.

"Come on man, don't be like that." Luke said to Nick.

"Don't worry about it." Pete said. "He has his mom's temper."

"Come on." Nick said and gestured the two children to the shed with his rifle.

They went toward it as Rebecca said, "This is a waste of time; you'll see. And when it happens, I'm not going to be the one cleaning it up."

"Keith are you going to be okay?" Clementine asked.

"The shot only grazed me, but I'm still worried that it's going to get infected. If anything, I'm more worried about you. That bite doesn't look good." Keith replied.

"Why did you lie to me and Pete back there?" Luke inquired as he crossed his arms over his chest and sent a glare toward the boy.

"Lying and deceit is what a typical Carver knows how to do." Nick spat.

"I'm sorry but I knew if I told you who I really was, I would have gotten shot." Keith said.

"You don't know that." Luke snapped.

"Oh really? Because I just got shot five minutes ago." Keith said with a glare.

Luke sighed knowing that Keith was right and his arms fell to his side. "My arm really hurts." Clementine whined. She couldn't help it; the pain was throbbing and it didn't help having someone mess with it and didn't bother to do anything else.

"I don't know what to do for you. Just try to hold out till morning." Luke replied. They finally arrived to the shed and Luke opened up the door. Inside, the shed was almost empty, with the exception of a tacklebox, a workbench, an anchor, and some lumber.

Keith and Clementine hesitated to enter the shed until Nick got behind them and gestured them to get in. Having no choice, Clementine and Keith obliged, and they went into the shed. Luke closed the doors and an argument could be heard outside the door. "Why are we doing this? It's so dumb." Nick inquired.

"Because it's safer this way and we want to be sure." Luke replied.

"You know that little shit is working for Carver?" Rebecca inquired.

"We don't know anything yet." Luke replied.

"Luke, you idiot." Rebecca exclaimed. "He's deceiving you and you're falling for it…" The conversation soon faded which left both children in silence.

Keith sat down and leaned against some of the lumber while using his right hand to press against his wounded arm. Clementine crossed her arms over her chest and she asked, "Who's Carver?"

Keith didn't respond; he instead looked to the wall and sighed. "Keith, I can't help you if you don't tell me who this Carver guy is. I heard that he is your dad but… that's all I know." Clementine said.

It was a long minute until Keith replied, "William Carver was my dad, but then when the apocalypse happened… he changed. He started to beat me and mom all the time. One day, my mom told him that she wanted nothing to do with him and she started to date this guy named Derrick. He was nice and cared about me. More importantly, he made mom really happy, which made me happy. I actually had a family again until a couple days ago, mom, Derrick, Carver, Troy, and I went foraging…" Keith started to tear up but he continued, "Troy shot Derrick from behind, killing him instantly. Bill then grabbed my mom from behind and…" Keith started to sob as the painful memories ran through his head. "…and he let a walker chomp down on her. She yelled for me to run and I did. Troy was close behind but I out-maneuvered him. I know what happens when you get bit. There was no hope for her… My dad killed my mom…"

Clementine got down in front of him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry that happened to you." Clementine said.

Keith looked up with tearful eyes and he hugged her. He cried on her shoulder as Clementine shushed him and rocked him. After a while, Keith separated from her and he said, "I'm sorry, I know I need to get stronger. I guess I never really mourned for my mom or Derrick until now."

"It's alright." Clementine said with a comforting smile. "Keith, we need to get out of here and treat our wounds. I'm going to need your help."

Keith nodded and he said, "I'm not sure how much help I'll be but I'll do my best." Keith got up, but he was a bit shaky in his movements.

The first thing Clementine checked was the tacklebox to find anything that could be useful. All she could find was fishing line. She took a bit of it and sliced it with her knife. However, she did notice that a portion of the wall that was covered up by the tacklebox was corroded. "Hey, Keith. Come check this out." Clementine said.

Keith walked over and examined the portion of the wall that Clementine was staring at. He knocked on a piece of wood and he said, "This part's corroded. If we had a hammer, we could take the nails out of the plank and kick this corroded wood, then we'll have a way out of this shed."

"That's exactly what I'm thinking." Clementine said.

Keith nodded and he said, "Yeah, but we need something to remove those nails or the plank itself."

The two looked around for a few seconds until Clementine eyed the handle of a hammer on the upper shelf. "I think I found something." Clementine said and she gestured to the top shelf.

"Awesome." Keith said. He then got down and opened up his backpack. He rummaged through it for a couple of seconds until he brought out a modern slingshot. Clementine looked at him with a questioning stare as the boy looked up. "You might want to get behind me." Keith said. Clementine obliged as Keith brought the sling back with a pellet. After a few seconds of adjusting his aim, he fired the slingshot and the pellet hit the hammer causing it to fall on the ground.

"Whoa." Clementine said.

"Yeah, not just a children's toy." Keith said and he put the slingshot away.

Clementine picked up the hammer and went to the wooden plank. Using her leverage, she was able to pry the plank away from the wall. Keith went over, and he kicked the corroded wood with his foot which made it fall apart. The two smiled at each other before they crawled out of the shed.

* * *

Keith helped Clementine up and Clementine said, "They have a doctor… he's got to have stuff for stitches…" Clementine then noticed how bloody Keith's hand was from the graze to his shoulder. "We need to find stitches for your shoulder too."

"Yeah." Keith said as he observed his hand.

The two looked back to the house, and they approached it. "There's probably a weak spot somewhere around the house. Let's look for that." Keith said.

"Okay." Clementine said. They went past the porch and around the side; however, they stopped mid-way. A piece of plywood covered a portion of the lattice. Keith yanked on it so the nails would be easier to remove. He nodded to Clementine and she took the hammer's spike to pry the nails off. Keith pushed the plywood aside and Clementine crawled into the hole in the lattice. Keith followed her, and they crept along underneath the house. "House meeting in five minutes." Someone said from within the house; it was Carlos.

"That's… that's great." Alvin complained.

"It won't take long. There's a few things we need to discuss." Carlos replied.

"Fine." Alvin said.

Clementine and Keith continued to crawl underneath the house, but they stopped and looked up to a trap door. "I got it." Clementine said as she pulled out her pocket knife and placed it between the mechanism and the lock. After she struggled for a couple of seconds, she finally broke the lock; however, the pocket knife broke off. "Shoot." Clementine muttered.

"You alright?" Keith asked.

"Yeah." Clementine said. "I just lost my knife though." She looked up to the trap door and opened it. Keith followed her. They could hear the adults arguing; however, it sounded as though they were in a different part of the house.

Keith placed his ear against the door to make sure that his suspicions were confirmed. Upon not hearing anything coherent, he opened the door and looked around to see if anyone was in the room. The room was lit up by candles and it revealed a couch and a couple of chairs. Keith walked out and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that there was no one around. He gestured Clementine to come and the two crept across the living room. They reached the stairs and they started to climb to the top. Both were careful to not make much noise; however, the occasional creak of the wooden stairs could be heard. They reached the top of the stairs and noticed a door on the right. Clementine opened it while Keith looked around for anyone on the second level of the cabin. Inside the room was the girl from earlier.

Both children were horrified now that they were spotted. Clementine made a gesture for the girl to stay quiet. "You're not supposed to be in here." The girl said.

"Can you help us?" Clementine asked as she entered the room with Keith close behind. The boy closed the door and looked to the girl.

"Please, we need your help." Keith added.

"I'm not supposed to talk to you. My dad can't know." The girl said.

Clementine eyed an open book on the girl's bed and asked, "What are you reading?"

"A book." The girl replied.

"What book? I like books." Clementine said. Keith decided to not speak up. He figured that Clementine's kind approach would help them rather than his.

"It's called the Guurgles. It's about trans-dimensional body snatchers." Sarah replied.

"That's so cool." Keith said. Sarah jumped a bit when he spoke up. "It's alright. We're not going to hurt you."

"Your dad is still looking for us." Sarah said.

"I know but I'm not him. He-" Keith tried to explain but the girl interrupted him.

"I still don't trust you." Keith looked down with a frown and allowed Clementine to talk to the girl. The girl looked to Clementine's arm and saw the blood patch on her sleeve. "What happened to you?"

"A dog bit me." Clementine said.

"Sounds scary… I bet it hurts." The girl said. She then noticed something dripping from Keith's hand. Her eyes widened and she asked, "Did the dog bite you too?"

"No, Nick did this." Keith said.

The girl jumped and she asked, "Why would he do that?"

Keith was going to speak but Clementine spoke first. "It's my fault. I surprised Nick and Keith got shot because of it." Clementine said.

"It's not your fault." Keith said. "It's Nick's. He always was reckless. His reckless actions have gotten a lot of people killed. He has probably killed more people than walkers at this point just because of his recklessness."

"Listen, I could die if I don't take care of this wound." Clementine said to the girl as she gestured to her arm. "Do you understand?" The girl looked down with a frown but nodded in confirmation as a sign that she understood. "I need something to clean it with and then some bandages. Do you have something like that?"

"Yeah, I do. It's with the rest of my medical supplies." The girl replied. She looked over to Keith and shook her head. "I…I don't know if I should help you though."

"But if you don't then Clementine might die…" Keith argued.

"Please." Clementine begged as she sent a set of sad eyes towards the girl.

The girl looked into Clementine's eyes and gave in. She couldn't say no to that expression. "Okay, I'll help you, but please don't tell my dad. He'll never forgive me otherwise."

"We won't tell your dad." Keith said.

"Thanks Keith." The girl said; however, she still remained a bit untrusting of the boy. "My name's Sarah."

"I'm Clementine." Clementine introduced herself.

"I would introduce myself, but you already know who I am." Keith said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Sarah nodded before she looked to Clementine and said, "We're friends, right? We can be best friends. I haven't met another girl my age since way before. It's kind of hard being the only girl in here. I mean Rebecca is a girl but that's it and she's older."

"Yeah we can be friends." Clementine said.

"Me too." Keith said.

"Promise?" Sarah asked. "This is really important to me."

"Yeah, I mean it." Keith said.

"I promise." Clementine added with a nod.

"Me too." Sarah said and she brought up her arm with her pinky finger extended out. "Pinky swear."

"Uh… that's more of a girl's thing… but alright." Keith said as he wrapped his pinky around Sarah's and shook it.

Clementine followed as Sarah said, "A pinky swear is forever." Clementine returned to griping her injured arm as Keith looked to her with a worried stare. "I'll see if I can find the stuff my dad uses when I get a cut." Sarah said. She went over to the other side of the bed and checked the nightstand drawer. She returned to Keith and Clementine with a bottle of disinfectant and some bandages. "I think this is it."

"That'll work." Keith said as he took the two item and placed them in his backpack.

"You can't do it here though. Someone will find you." Sarah said.

"Don't worry; we won't." Clementine said. She and Keith opened the door and they looked around the hall. After seeing that the hall was clear, the two walked across it to another room as Clementine said, "Thanks Sarah." Sarah shushed her in response not wanting her father or any of the other cabin members finding out what she did for the two.

They walked into what appeared to be a bathroom and Keith whispered. "They got to have something in that medicine cabinet." Clementine nodded and opened it. She saw a needle and took it out to examine it.

"It looks clean." Clementine said.

"That'll work." Keith said.

Clementine and Keith were about to leave until Clementine stopped herself from turning the doorknob and gestured to Keith to not open the door. She could hear footsteps coming up the stairs, and she pressed her ear against the door. Her eyes widened when she could hear Rebecca grumbling. Keith could hear it as well and his eyes widened. "That man sometimes, I swear!" The woman spat.

Keith looked to the bath tub and dragged Clementine inside it and closed the curtains. They both squatted down as Keith looked between the curtains to see Rebecca open the door.

She held her head in a stressful manner and huffed. Keith watched her as she went to the sink and washed her face. "I just need to have this baby… Please just let this baby be okay and let it be his." Both children looked at each other with surprised expressions as Rebecca exited the room. Keith waited for a couple of seconds before he nodded as a signal to come out of the bath tub. Keith looked to her and said, "That was close."

"Yeah." Clementine said. She looked to the bath tub and said, "I wish I could use this again. I probably smell awful right now." She then looked to Keith for confirmation.

"You smell fine." Keith said. "I'm the one who smells like washed-up road kill."

Clementine chuckled at the analogy and said, "You smell fine. Anyway, we have everything we need. Let's get back to the shed."

Keith nodded and replied, "Okay, I can help you with stitching up your wound." Clementine nodded and the two headed out of the room, down the stairs, and back to the trap door which led to outside.

* * *

Once they were back in the shed, Clementine laid out the obtained supplies from the house as Keith looked through his backpack and pulled out an electric lantern.

He placed it on the workbench and turned it on. Clementine looked away until her eyes could adjust to the blinding light of the electric lantern. "You know how to do this right?" Clementine asked.

"Uh… yeah, kind of. I helped Carlos a couple times back at the Howe's and I have stitched up a couple of my own wounds…" Keith trailed off as he remembered the painful set of experiences.

Clementine rolled up her sleeve and she said, "This is going to suck."

"I'm not going to sugar coat it, yes it is." Keith said as he untwisted the top of the disinfectant. "Okay." Keith said. He then started to tilt the bottle. "Try to hold still." Clementine was speechless and somewhat nervous as she closed her eyes and awaited for the pain of the disinfectant. Keith grabbed her arm and kept one hand on it so Clementine couldn't retract. He then tilted the disinfectant and the contents poured onto Clementine's arm.

She gasped and yelled in pain. Tears started to form in her eyes and Keith looked at her with worried eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry; are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Clementine said as she tried to recover from the disinfectant's sting. "Okay time for the worst part."

Keith placed the cap back on the disinfectant and started to thread the needle. He struggled at first and he said, "I never was good at sewing. I did a better job of breaking things and getting in trouble for it."

Clementine giggled in response and she said, "I can't see you getting in trouble."

"Oh trust me, I was a master at getting in trouble before all of this. Probably the worst thing I ever did was hit this antique vase that my mom liked. I was only six at the time but oh boy! Mom was furious. She paddled me so hard, I think my butt was red for two days. And of course, I was grounded for a week." Keith said as he continued to thread the needle.

"What she ground you from?" Clementine asked.

Keith sighed and he looked up from trying to thread the needle. "Okay don't laugh but she grounded me from drawing and playing basketball." Keith said. "I could live without playing basketball, but drawing was one of my favorite things to do." Keith went back to trying to thread the needle and he said, "I could spend hours on one drawing. My dad hated that I spent so much time drawing but I couldn't help it. I would just lose myself in it; I would go into a new world…"

"I liked to draw too." Clementine said. "After everything happened, this boy and I would always draw, granted it was the only thing we could do without getting into trouble but I still enjoyed it. Along with drawing, he would always talk about something called Robosaurus."

"I watched that before everything happened. It was kind of stupid." Keith said. He smirked as he recalled Clementine's own words of a boy. "A boy huh? I bet you liked him."

"What? No!" Clementine exclaimed. "I was too young at the time. I was only eight."

Keith chuckled and he said, "That doesn't stop some people. Before all of this happened, one of my cousins said that she was going to marry me."

Clementine giggled and she asked, "What?"

"Yeah… she was pretty goofy. I just hope she's doing alright nowadays. I haven't heard much from my extended family since this all happened." Keith said with a worried frown.

"Yeah, I feel the same way." Clementine said. "So you've been at a community the whole time… what was it?"

"Howe's and yeah…" Keith said. "For the most part. We did lose some people in the beginning… people who were close to me and my family, but I've been in the walls for a while. Still, I know how to shoot and I know how to kill lurkers."

"Who came up with that name?" Clementine asked.

"I think it was Luke who came up with it if memory serves right." Keith said.

"I've been calling them walkers. I think a guy in our group named Glenn came up with the name." Clementine said.

Keith looked to the girl once again and he said, "So what about you? I know you were with that Christa woman… but what about your parents? Were you part of a group?"

"I was." Clementine said with a frown. "When everything happened, I was with a babysitter, but she got bit. I could tell that she wasn't looking good, and it started to scare me… so I left my house and went up into my treehouse. I stayed there for a couple days and that's when this man showed up." Keith kept his eyes on the girl. She had a sad smile on her lips when she mentioned the man. That sent the message right away that the man was a very caring person and he tried to raise her while going through the horrors of the walker-infested world, but eventually, he didn't make it.

"His name was Lee. He taught me how to shoot a gun, and he loved me… so much…" Clementine said as she looked down.

"You don't have to continue." Keith said.

Clementine shrugged and she said, "It's only fair. You told me your whole story… even the part about your mom and step-dad."

"I know… but I really needed to get that off my chest. I don't want to force you into telling me your whole story." Keith said. He shook his head and he said, "I need to thread this needle so I can stitch your wound."

"Okay." Clementine said. She was thankful that the boy didn't ask her to continue on. Lee was still a sore spot for her and she was happy that Keith didn't want to learn more about him. It was different with almost everyone else.

The two remained in silence for a couple of seconds as Keith's shaky hands were unsuccessful in threading the needle until a stroke of luck occurred where it was finally through. He tied off the knot and looked to Clementine. "You ready?" Keith asked.

Clementine shook her head and said, "Not really."

Keith placed his hand on her arm to prevent it from moving, and he slowly brought the needle closer to her arm. "I hate causing pain, especially towards someone I care about." Keith said.

"Don't think of it that way. Just think of it as helping me." Clementine said.

Keith looked to Clementine and nodded. "Okay; I'll go as fast as I can." Keith said and he started to push the needle through. Clementine yelled in pain as Keith kept going. "I'm sorry; I'm sorry!" Keith exclaimed over Clementine's pained screams. He inserted the needle through her skin a couple more times to make sure the stitching would hold, all the while apologizing as Clementine whimpered and yelled out in pain.

Keith finally finished and he tied off the thread. Clementine panted as tears fell from her eyes. She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt as Keith looked to her with a frown, "I'm sorry, I went as fast as I could."

Clementine looked up and smiled, despite the searing pain in her arm. "No, I'm glad you helped me. Thank you Keith." Clementine huffed. She finally caught her breath and stood upright.

Keith smiled back and he said, "Let's wrap that arm up and then-" He couldn't finish his sentence since Clementine fell forward with a gasp, however she grabbed onto the workbench to avoid falling to the ground. She looked back to see a walker holding onto her foot…

…**To be continued.**

**A/N: Yeah… cliffhangers… as you can tell I changed a few things here and there. No worries though.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Keith was shocked to see the walker get into the shed as the corroded wood crumbled against its undead body. It pulled Clementine to the ground and climbed on top of her as she kept it at a distance with her legs, but her strength was failing. A combination of hunger and exhaustion left her with minimal strength. Thankfully, Keith regained his focus and charged at the walker with his knife in hand. He stabbed it at the top of the head as the doors to the shed opened. "Holy shit!" Luke said.

"What the…?" Alvin exclaimed. Keith grunted as he finished the stab into a slash which relinquished any of his remaining strength. He panted as all of the adults looked to him and Clementine. The girl got up from the attack and she panted as well. It was a frightening experience for both children.

"What the fuck? How did it get in there?" Alvin asked.

"The little girl and the little boy are tough as nails." Pete said.

"Are you both alright?" Luke asked with a tang of concern in his voice.

Clementine built up a scowl which surprised Keith. The girl was always kind and reasonable, but this time, her hazel eyes shot daggers at the group and she said, "I am still. NOT. Bitten. I never was. And you left us out here to die." Keith nodded in agreement as the group members looked away. They must have felt uncomfortable and remorseful with the exception of Rebecca who crossed her arms over her chest and returned the glare.

Luke looked down to her arm and his eyes perked up with curiosity. "You patched yourself up…?" Luke asked.

Nick looked to her arm and a scowl formed in his features, "Where'd you get that stuff?"

"Did they steal from us?" Rebecca snarled.

"This doesn't change a thing. They haven't done anything to us." Pete said.

"Says the one not carrying a baby." Rebecca snapped.

"That has no relevance!" Keith snapped. He was frustrated with the woman's attitude. "We came to you for help, but all you did was throw us in a shed to die!"

"Boy, you don't snap at me." Rebecca snarled. "I will…" Rebecca started to approach the boy in a threatening manner until Luke put his hand out in front of her and shook his head.

"Rebecca, I think you have done enough. Go back to the house." Luke said in a cold tone of voice.

Rebecca jumped at his sternness but her surprise gave way to anger. "How dare you. You think you can tell me what to do-!" Rebecca snapped.

"You are not helping the situation!" Luke exclaimed.

"Back the fuck off!" Rebecca shouted.

Alvin walked to Rebecca's side and said, "Baby, I think what Luke is trying to say is that things are a little stressed right now and he doesn't want you to worry about something like this. You're going to need all of your energy for the baby."

"Forget it." Rebecca snarled. "I get the point." She turned toward the cabin and stormed off as Alvin let out a sigh.

"Listen for what it's worth, we're both sorry that we took the supplies, but you left us with no other choice." Clementine said. "We would have died if we didn't do anything."

Carlos glared at the two children before he went into the shed to gather the supplies from the house. "Bring her in and I'll have a look at her arm." Carlos said after he gathered the supplies. He turned and walked toward the house. However, he stopped and sent a glare toward Keith. "But he stays out here." Carlos said.

"What!" Luke exclaimed.

"Shit, Carlos, it's going to freeze tonight! He can't stay out here!" Pete exclaimed.

"I don't want him anywhere near Sarah." Carlos said.

"That isn't fair, Carlos." Nick said which surprised Pete and Luke. Neither were expecting Nick to stand up for Keith.

"I don't care." Carlos said.

"I'm not going inside without Keith." Clementine said. "He's my friend and he's helped me. I know you people have a history with him, but he isn't a bad person."

"He is not going inside and that is final!" Carlos snapped. "He can stay out here and die for all I care!"

Keith placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and he said, "Clem, you should go inside."

Clementine looked to Keith shocked by his noncompliance towards her decision. For the short period that she knew him, Keith had sided and helped Clementine every time but this time was the exception. Clementine shook her head and she said, "No, no, no, you can't stay out here. You'll freeze and we need to treat your wound." Clementine said.

"I'll be fine." Keith said. "Clementine, I want you to go in there."

Nick sighed in defeat and he said, "Are you coming or not?"

"Just go, I'll be alright. I promise." Keith said.

Clementine hesitated. She didn't want to leave Keith out in the cold, but she knew her body was running on fumes and her stomach was starting to cramp from lack of food. Clementine sighed and she said, "Okay… just please stay safe out here."

"Don't worry. I'll be fine." Keith said.

Clementine smile to the boy and she exited the shed. Luke stood at the entrance and he asked, "You hungry?" Clementine stopped for a second, but she went past him and ignored his question. Luke released a sigh and he closed the doors to the shed. Keith finally had some time to process everything that had happened.

He was thankful that he saved Clementine. She was fun, lively, caring, and one of few people that he still cared about. The door closed shut and Keith grabbed his electric lantern from the workbench. He set it down close by as he grabbed a blanket from his backpack and allowed his body to rest on the floor. His injured arm was still emitting pain as he thought to himself that tonight was going to be a long night.

* * *

Inside the cabin, Carlos was looking at Clementine's arm as she looked toward Nick with a nervous stare. He had proven to be dangerous and paranoid which was a dangerous combination. He was a little too close to his hunting rifle for her liking. Meanwhile, Luke paced around the room with a bit nervousness and anxiety. The tense atmosphere was broken when Carlos said, "This might hurt a little."

"Ow." Clementine said in response as she felt an unpleasant jolt from her arm.

"How's she look?" Luke asked as he stopped in his pacing.

"Hmm… well, I'd say she should be fine." Carlos said as he looked to Luke.

"So it wasn't a lurker bite?" Luke asked.

"If it was, the fever would have already set in and her temperature would be through the roof." Carlos replied. Nick released a sigh and he left the room. Luke noticed him leaving and he went after Nick.

As they left, Clementine inspected her arm and Carlos went to look out the window with a disgruntled and angry sigh. "I wish you wouldn't have done what you did." Carlos said.

"Keith and I were hurt and you weren't helping. And you still aren't helping Keith." Clementine said. The last sentence was said with a touch of anger and disappointment.

"Because we considered you a threat which you were." Carlos replied. "Maybe you still are."

"No, I'm not." Clementine said.

"Either way, we know that Keith is in every way a threat." Carlos said.

"Keith only wants to help. He is not hostile." Clementine said.

"We put you in that shed out of the safety and concern of our loved ones. And then you and that… that monster escaped and convinced my daughter to steal from us." Carlos said as his voice got progressively bitter and angry.

Clementine glared at the man and said, "Don't call Keith that. He has been put through as much as you have."

"Oh really? You think he has been through as much as any of us have?" Carlos inquired.

"Yes, I do." Clementine said.

Carlos released sigh to calm himself down and he said, "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt this time but there are a few things that you need to know about my daughter."

"Okay." Clementine said.

"She isn't like you." Carlos said. "You may not get that initially but if she knew what the world was really like out there, she would… cease to function. She's my little girl and she is all I have left. And I would ask that you would stay away from her."

Clementine looked down with a frown and she said, "Carlos, I think what you're doing is one of the nicest things a father could do for his daughter. I sometimes wish my dad would still be around to do the same, but you can't baby her all the time. You have to at least show her how to use a gun."

Carlos turned around with a glare and he said, "Shut up! How dare you think that you know what is best for my daughter! Rebecca was worried that you and Keith were working with someone else. That you being here was no accident, and I believe her." Carlos approached the girl and he said, "You are not to be trusted." He then walked towards the door and looked back to Clementine one more time. "Stay away from my daughter or there will be serious consequences."

He stormed out of the room as Luke entered to see Clementine standing. She was somewhat surprised by the doctor's sudden and unreasonable anger and threats towards her. Her thoughts were interrupted when Luke said, "Hey uh… brought you some food if you want it."

Clementine looked to Luke with a smile and the two went to the table. Luke presented a bowl of oatmeal as her meal and she started to eat as Luke asked, "So what was that between you and Carlos. He seemed to be really upset when he left the room."

Clementine stopped eating and she said, "I just told Carlos that he shouldn't baby Sarah as much but that was enough to set him off. He said he doesn't trust me, he thinks Keith is a monster, and he said that if I get anywhere near Sarah that there would be 'serious consequences'."

Luke jumped in surprise and he said, "Pete and I will talk to him. If anything, I think he is on edge about Keith being here. He probably didn't mean it." Luke looked to Clementine's arm and he said, "That's going to leave one helluva scar."

Clementine smirked upon recalled Pete's original proposal to take her arm off and she replied, "Better than losing it."

"You can say that again." Luke said. "Scars… they're way cooler than stumps."

Clementine perked up at the mention of having a stump. It reminded her of her guardian having a stump before he died. "Hey, you alright?" Luke asked.

"Uh… yeah, it's just that... I had a friend who lost his arm once." Clementine said.

Both could hear someone enter the room and they looked over to see Nick. Clementine remembered his initial anger and hostility toward her and Keith, and she went back to eating. Nick got closer to the girl, but she ignored him. "Hey look. Um, I just wanted to say that I am sorry for… well… for being a dick out there… and shooting Keith… I got kinda agro and that definitely was not cool." Nick said. Clementine stopped eating and looked to the man.

"Nick has been known to go off every once in a while. Don't hold it against him." Luke explained.

"I guess we all have our moments." Nick said.

"You definitely had one out there." Luke said.

"You were just trying to protect your friends. I get it, but that didn't give you any right to shoot Keith." Clementine said.

"I know and I do need to make it up to him in some way." Nick said. "I didn't mean to sound so harsh to you or Keith… It's just… we had a bad experience once."

"We've all had bad experiences." Clementine said.

Nick sat down next to Clementine as he looked to her with a frown. She noticed that there was pain in his eyes. It was like she was staring at a reflection of herself. She had seen those pain-filled eyes before; they were the same eyes she had. "Nick lost his mom. We took care of someone who'd got bit." Luke explained to Clementine.

"It was my fault, I-" Nick started to say but he was interrupted by Luke

"It was no one's fault. We thought we could control it… but we couldn't. And she turned and Nick's mom was standing right there and she got attacked. There was nothing we could do about it." Luke said.

The atmosphere grew to be somber, and after a few seconds, Nick said, "Anyway. Hopefully you can forgive me."

"I do. Yeah." Clementine replied.

Nick looked to her with an appreciative stare and stood up. He walked out of the conjoined kitchen and dining room which left Luke and Clementine in silence. Clementine went back to eating her oatmeal as Luke asked, "So since you and Keith are with each other, what's your plan?"

Clementine stopped eating again and she looked to Luke with a frown. "We need to move on." Clementine said.

"Look, I know things are rough right now, but in time, the group will trust you." Luke said.

"Luke, that's not true, and you know it." Clementine replied. Luke looked surprised by the young girl's response and she continued, "Carlos and Rebecca don't trust or like me. They want me out of here, and none of you trust Keith…" Luke looked down with a frown. He went to argue with the girl but nothing came out. "Luke, it will be better if Keith and I moved on, and get away from this place."

Luke sighed and he said, "I hope that you will change your mind." Clementine gave a doubtful stare and continued to eat, leaving Luke in silence. "So… what happened to your parents… if you don't mind me asking?" Clementine stopped herself from eating and looked up to Luke as she recalled everything that had happened since the apocalypse. "I mean, I assume what happened to them is the same as what happened to almost everyone's parents." Luke continued. "You're just so young… didn't think you could have made it on your own for so long…"

"Other people took care of me, if that's what you're asking." Clementine said.

"I was just curious." Luke said.

Unlike before when she talked to Keith, Clementine felt almost pushed to talk to Luke. She shook her head and she said, "I'd rather not talk about that."

"Okay. I get it." Luke said as he held up his hands in surrender. "It's a tough subject for everyone. And I understand that you're less than trusting of us right now… considering what we did."

"Yeah…" Clementine said as she looked back to her oatmeal and continued to eat while Luke sat across from her.

The quiet atmosphere was broken when Luke said, "So how'd you and Keith meet up? My group is going to be curious about that. If you could tell us what happened when you both met up, it'll probably help in getting him out of that shed."

Clementine looked up and she said, "He dragged me ashore after I fell into the river last night. I was trying to get away from these scavengers, and then walkers showed up. Some of the walkers killed this one scavenger that chased me, but I was getting surrounded by the walker and that's when I fell in. I lost my footing when I was trying to stay away from the walkers. Keith found me further downstream, and that's the first time we met."

"I see." Luke said.

"Did… uh… did Keith say anything about us or anything?" Luke asked. Clementine shook her head and Luke breathed out a sigh. "Good… uh good. It's not that we're bad people, but… we had to make a tough decision awhile back… and I don't exactly know what he's told you about us."

The atmosphere returned to being solemn and quiet. Clementine continued to eat while Luke watched her. She didn't feel very comfortable around Luke. He didn't feel nearly as comfortable or inviting as Keith was. He almost felt suspicious and untrusting. Of course, she felt that way because of what his group did. Finally, Pete walked and said, "I hate to interrupt but I'm out there standing watch and can't help but notice that this place is lit up like a beacon in the middle of the woods."

"Yeah, it's time to turn in anyway." Luke said.

"Get your winks in while you can, cause we're leaving at first light." Pete said to Clementine. "A couple of fresh brookies for dinner? Mhm, wouldn't that be nice?" Luke nodded, stood up, and left the room. Clementine and Pete looked to each other for a couple of seconds as Clementine smiled to the older man. He was probably the friendliest person within the group. Pete smiled back before leaving.

Clementine looked back down to her oatmeal and she finished eating it; however, she was interrupted when Rebecca opened the door to the kitchen and asked, "Oh, you're still here?"

Clementine replied with a nod as Rebecca skulked her way to the sink. Rebecca began to clean some of the dishes and she said, "I wouldn't get comfortable if I were you. You may have fooled the others but not me." Her voice was laced with bitterness and suspicion.

"You don't have to threaten me. Keith and I are leaving as soon as possible." Clementine said.

Rebecca stopped and went toward the girl with a scowl "I don't think so." Rebecca said. "Keith is not going with you. You are going to leave this house by tomorrow and if you ever return, I will make sure that it will be the last thing you ever do." Rebecca was trying to scare her, but Clementine showed no signs of being afraid of the woman.

"I'm not leaving without Keith." Clementine said.

"Yeah well guess what? Keith isn't leaving any time soon. As for you, I know you can't be trusted and soon everyone will know." Rebecca said. She turned and stomped out of the kitchen.

Clementine released a sigh, and she looked out the window. "Keith, please be alright." Clementine said.

**Later That Night**

A man walked out of the cabin as everyone rested. He headed toward the shed where a sleeping Keith was. The man laid his hunting rifle on the ground and unlocked the shed doors. He opened it to see Keith sleeping on the ground, and the man picked up his hunting rifle. He went to the boy and said, "Keith, wake up." The man proceeded to nudge the boy awake and the boy's eyes started to flutter open as the man place his hunting rifle nearby.

"Nick? What are you doing out here?" Keith asked with a sleepy tone in his voice. He then yawned and continued, "It's not morning yet."

"I know." Nick replied with a frown. "I shot you and I want to make up for it." Nick reached for his back pocket and brought the bottle of disinfectant, bandages, a needle and some thread. "I'm going to do the best I can…"

"Nick you don't have to…" Keith said.

"Yes I do. It was my fault for what happened to you" Nick said.

Keith sent an appreciative smile toward Nick and proceeded to take his hooded sweatshirt off to reveal a black t-shirt. He pulled up the sleeve of his left arm and cringed when his hand passed by the torn and scarred muscles that were grazed by Nick's earlier bullet. Keith nodded to indicate that he was ready. Nick nodded back and started to tilt the bottle of disinfectant toward Keith's arm and poured a small amount on the wound. Keith cringed and even jumped in pain. "Ouch!" Keith exclaimed.

Nick then pressed the already threaded needle to Keith arm and said, "Alright, don't squirm, you got it."

"I'll do my best." Keith said.

Nick huffed and pushed the needle through the skin. Keith gasped and cried in pain. Nick kept going as tears and pained huffs could be heard from Keith. "Stop squirming!" Nick said.

"I'm trying!" Keith exclaimed.

Nick finally finished and wrapped Keith's arm with the bandages. Nick sighed and then hugged the boy while avoiding his sore arm. "Good job." Nick said as he patted the boy's back. Keith was surprised by Nick's sudden kindness toward him. Nick got up as Keith wiped his tears with his arm. "I don't owe you anything now." Nick said with a cold tone of voice. "We're even."

Keith looked to Nick as he picked up his hunting rifle and he headed out of the shed. "Nick wait." Keith said.

Nick whirled around and snarled, "What?"

"Thank you for helping me." Keith said. Nick sighed and shook his head in response. He didn't know how to respond to the boy. After all, he did something against the group's wishes, but he felt that he owed Keith since he shot the boy. Nick had to convince himself that he did the right thing as he proceeded to exit the shed and close the door. Keith looked toward him with a thankful stare but Nick ignored the boy's stare and closed the doors.

Keith put his hooded sweatshirt back on and wrapped his upper body in the blanket in an attempt to stay warm.

**Morning**

Pete led Clementine down a trail that he and the other cabin members used to get to the river. She was consumed by thought over how Keith was doing. Pete must have noticed her since he started to talk. "How are you holding up? I heard you got an earful from Rebecca last night. Once she gets going, there's no bringing her back. Her bark is worse than her bite." Pete said.

"What's her problem?" Clementine asked.

"She has a lot on her mind lately, with the baby… and well, Keith showing up yesterday didn't help either." Pete replied. They walked over a door that acted as a bridge. He looked behind to see Clementine looking down with a frown. She was worried about Keith; she didn't want him to become more injured than what he already was. "Don't worry about Keith." Pete said. "I fed him some oatmeal early this morning, and he seemed to be alright."

Clementine smiled toward the older man and said, "Thanks for doing that."

"It's the least my group owes you after everything." Pete said. "Well these fish traps shouldn't be that far from here. I'm just wondering where my lazy-ass nephew might be." Clementine looked at the rifle in his hands but she looked up when he asked, "Hey, did anyone ever taught how to shoot? And I mean shoot proper. Any idiot with a finger can shoot."

"Yeah but not a rifle." Clementine replied.

"Well that makes sense, something like this would probably knock you down on your ass." Pete said as he walked through an opening in the fence. Clementine followed as Pete continued, "Nick was about your age first time I took him hunting." Pete stopped as he continued to explain the story. "We came across this beautiful 13-point buck just standing there on the ridgeline." Pete brought the rifle up as a demonstration of Nick holding it and continued, "The boy takes up the rifle... lines up the shot just like I taught him… then I hear him start whinin. He turns to me and says, 'I can't do it. I can't shoot it Uncle Pete. Please don't make me shoot it.'"

"Really? No way." Clementine said with a giggle.

Pete smiled until he could hear his nephew. ""Hey!" Nick exclaimed as he caught up with the two. "Why didn't you wait?"

"You want us standing around while you're pissing on a tree? You know where the river is boy." Pete said. He turned back to Clementine and continued with the story, "Anyway, I grab the gun out of his hand before the big buck runs off, when BANG! The gun fires. The boy nearly gut shot me. And of course the buck gets away."

Nick scowled and exclaimed, "Why are you going and telling her this shit for?"

"Because you shot her friend yesterday and you went all ape-shit." Pete snapped. "Just trying to let her know that it is nothing personal with you."

"Why are you always giving me such a hard time?" Nick said.

"Because you're always giving everyone else a hard time." Pete said.

"I apologized already. She accepted it." Nick said.

"Well alright; I didn't know that." Pete replied.

"It's fine; he apologized." Clementine added.

"You're always trying to embarrass me." Nick said to Pete.

"You're doing a good enough job of that on your own." Pete spat. "Besides, you may have made amends with Clementine, but you still haven't done a damn thing for Keith." Nick jumped at the mention of the boy's name and he glared at his uncle. Nick pushed Pete out of the way and started to leave the two. "Leaving us again." Pete said.

"I know where the fucking river is." Nick hissed as he walked away.

Pete shook his head in disappointment and he said, "So, anyway… I came across that buck later that season. I shot it right in the neck. Brought it up to my sister's figurin she'd wanted to freeze some of the meat. Nick didn't speak to me for weeks. Sometimes, you got to play roll, even if it means the people you love hate you for it." He frowned a bit at his last statement.

"You should tell him that." Clementine said.

Pete considered what the girl had said to him and looked to her with a thankful stare.

However, there was a yell from Nick. "Uncle Pete!" Nick's voice was heard.

Pete and Clementine ran for the river where Nick was. "Nick?" Pete said when Nick finally came into view. The older man and young girl stopped when they saw what frightened the young man. "Oh, my stars and garters." Pete said as he looked around the area. There were bodies everywhere along the river bank. Pete went to observe one of the mangled bodies and shook his head in disgust.

"Who could have done this?" Clementine asked.

"Not sure yet." Pete replied. "But it aint your average gang of thugs, that much I'm sure."

"Think about it. You're Carver, what do you do?" Nick said to his uncle.

Pete considered his nephew's input and he said, "They're full of holes, so it's possible. Check these guys for ammo; we're running low. Also keep an eye and ear out for survivors."

Clementine went to one of the bodies which wore a distinguishable leather jacket that read, 'Plastic Toys' on the back. She looked him over and said, "This one's shot too."

Through the head?" Pete asked.

Clementine double-checked to make sure and she said, "Yeah."

Nick came back over as Clementine and Pete got up from their observations. Clementine noticed the river bank on the other side had bodies too. "There are more on the other side." Clementine said.

"This wasn't just your rinky-dink pissin match." Pete said as he stood up from checking the body.

"What was it then?" Nick asked.

"FUBAR." Pete replied and he headed for the small island in the middle of the river.

"Where the fuck are you going?" Nick exclaimed. "We need it get out of here now!"

"Got to check the rest." Pete said.

"No way! What for?" Nick exclaimed.

"Calm down and think about it son." Pete said as he crossed a shallow part of the river to get to the island.

"Calm down? We need to get out of here now!" Nick exclaimed.

"For crying out loud, get a hold of yourself!" Pete snarled.

"What if someone's alive, Nick?" Clementine asked.

"Who cares?" Nick replied.

"Because they might just be inclined to tell us who did this." Pete said. "We have to do this now." Clementine nodded and leapt for a boulder in the middle of the river. Pete focused his attention to his nephew and said, "Stay over on this side and keep check these."

Nick looked behind to the forest and he said, "This is a dumb idea."

"You know Nick, I don't like this either but sooner or later you're going to have to learn the simple truth." Pete said.

"What? That you're an asshole." Nick replied.

"That no one in this world is going to give a damn of whether you like something or not. You got to grow up son." Pete scolded the young man.

"Whatever." Nick said and he went back to checking the bodies on his side.

"Come on, Clem." Pete said as he turned to Clementine. "You want to be useful. Keep an eye out on that treeline. Whoever did this might still be around, waiting for another sucker…"

"I would be more useful if I had a gun." Clementine said.

"I don't doubt that." Pete replied.

"At some point, you guys are going to have to trust me." Clementine said.

"Hell, I trust you but not everyone is at that point yet; give them time." Pete said. "Listen, just keep your head on straight." Clementine nodded but she turned to a walker when she heard it growl and snarl. Pete noticed the walker as well. It had a flagpole sticking out of its chest. "Hmm, same thing, shot to pieces; I hope this wasn't someone you knew." Pete said as he put his foot on the walker and took the flagpole out of its chest.

"Well, no." Clementine replied as she observed the walker.

"Good." Pete said and he killed the walker with the flagpole. Pete looked up and noticed more bodies on the opposite shore. "Dammit, more on that side. You check out these ones. See if there's anything on them that'll tell us who they were." Pete left the girl and he went to check the bodies on the other side…

…**To be continued.**

**A/N: Sorry, the next chapter is going to be boring. Almost nothing changes between the game and the next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Not going to lie, this is going to be one weak chapter. It's like a filler when it comes to fanfiction, but this chapter is needed for future reference and character development. If you want to skip it, that's fine. I wouldn't blame you, but either way, let's begin.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Clementine looked through the bodies to see if there was anything of use, but there was nothing. Plus, the bodies were shot to pieces. Clementine shuttered a bit; she certainly did not want to meet whoever committed the massacre. She went up to the last body and gasped. It was one of the three scavengers that ambushed her and Christa. The scavenger looked horrible and must have been on the verge of dying.

The man's raspy breathing almost made Clementine sympathetic to the man. However, she regained her focus by reminding herself that this man would kill her if he had the chance, and then Lee's and Omid's sacrifice would be in vain. She crouched down in front of the scavenger and said, "That's my backpack…" Clementine then realized that she was talking to someone who knew if Christa made it or not. "You were in the woods with Christa… the woman I was with. What happened to her? Please, tell me. Tell me."

The scavenger coughed and muttered, "Please…" He then pointed to her backpack with the bottle of water. Clementine picked up on the hint and grabbed the water bottle. She then helped the scavenger with a drink. He gulped down the water and he coughed, "Thank you."

"Please, you have to tell me where Christa is." Clementine pleaded but her pleas fell on deaf ears. The man died at that very moment, leaving Clementine unanswered.

Suddenly, there was a yell of pain that came from Pete. "ARRGH!" Clementine looked over to see Pete backing away from a crawler and fired with his hunting rifle to kill the creature.

"Uncle Pete!" Nick exclaimed.

"I'm fine." Pete huffed. "I…I just lost my footing. Dammit… Dammit!" Nick and Clementine looked to Pete with worried eyes. Clementine could see the blood coming from his ankle; she knew what had happened; Pete had been bit. "Shit lurkers!" Nick exclaimed. Clementine turned and saw Nick fighting off a couple of approaching walkers.

I'm out of ammo!" Pete exclaimed.

"Come this way!" Nick yelled.

"Son of a bitch… dammit you get your asses over here, the both of you!" Pete exclaimed. Meanwhile, Clementine kept looking back in forth, unsure of who to go with.

"Come over here and I'll cover you!" Nick exclaimed.

Clementine finally came to a decision and ran for the other side of the river where Pete was. She figured that Nick was stronger and younger, so he could survive on his own better than Pete, especially considering that Pete was out of ammo and he was bit.

"Come on, come on!" Pete exclaimed as he waved his arm to Clementine. Suddenly, a walker grabbed him from behind. Pete was able to get away from the walker's grasp, but as a result, he lost his balance and fell on a rock with the walker landing on top of him. Pete was able to keep the walker at a distance by putting his foot to its chest. It growled and snarled as it tried to reach Pete. Pete struggled with the walker as Clementine ran to him. She noticed that there was a knife sticking out of the walker's shoulder. She pulled the knife out and placed it into the walker's skull. She then pulled the knife out and allowed the walker to fall onto the ground with a thud.

Pete huffed as he got on his own two feet. However, the relief from the struggle was short-lived when Clementine and Pete could hear Nick yell. They looked over to see him hit a couple of the walkers with the stock of his rifle.

"Nick! Hold on!" Pete yelled. However, Nick was surrounded with only one way out, which was the forest behind him. He bolted out of the area and into the forest. "Nick!" Pete shouted.

Clementine looked on with horror by the results of her decision, but her thoughts were soon broken when she heard several growls that were increasing in number and were getting louder which meant they were getting closer. She looked over and her suspicions were confirmed as several walkers were heading towards her and Pete. "We have to go." Clementine said.

Pete looked over to the river bank where his nephew was. It was apparent that he was hesitant to leave especially not knowing if Nick was okay, but he had no other choice. Pete started to limp away as Clementine ran next to him. Several walkers were in pursuit of the pair, but they were advanced in decaying and were too slow to catch up. However, the two survivor soon found out that the forest was filled with once dormant walkers.

* * *

Clementine and Pete finally found sanctuary within an abandoned van. Walkers started to bang on the van in a desperate attempt to get in which was unsuccessful. "Well, they shouldn't be able to get through that." Pete huffed. "On the downside, we can't get through them." Pete leaned back and slid down one of the walls of the van. Clementine could now see that Pete was starting to become pale and there was a noticeable blood patch on his leg that was in the shape of a human chomp. "What are you looking at? Staring ain't polite." Pete said.

"Wh-What are you going to do?" Clementine asked.

Pete sighed as he accepted defeat. Clementine was too observant, so it was no use in trying to fake it. His eyes went to a hack saw that was on one of the van's shelves. "Hand me that there." Pete said as he indicated the saw.

"Cutting it off won't work." Clementine said.

"Says who?" Pete asked.

"It didn't work my friend, Lee." Clementine said with a frown on her face.

Pete huffed and he said, "Well, it's better to try than to wait for the alternative to happened." He grabbed the saw from the shelf as Clementine got up and backed away. Pete straightened his bitten leg and pressed the saw against it. Clementine closed her eyes as Pete's heavy breathing emanated throughout the vehicle. A few tense filled seconds passed by until Clementine heard a loud metal clang. She opened her eyes to see the saw tossed aside. "I'd bleed out like a stuck pig! What are you gonna do? Carry me outta here on your back!" Pete exclaimed before he released a sigh. "Hell… just give me a minute."

"Try to get some rest." Clementine said. "There's a lot of stuff in here. Maybe there is something we can use."

Pete gave a pained grunt in response. Clementine looked around the vehicle until she looked to driver's seat. The keys were still in the ignition! She twisted the keys to start up the engine but the vehicle didn't start. "Out of gas." Pete said.

Clementine then looked into one of the van's compartments and saw some cigarettes in it. "What's in there? Anything we can use?" Pete asked. Clementine got up and showed the box of cigarettes to Pete. "Gimme one of those." Pete said. Clementine approached Pete as Pete continued, "Probably tastes like pine tar by now." Clementine then handed the box of cigarettes to Pete and Pete asked, "You got a light?" Clementine nodded as she used her zippo lighter to light one of the cigarettes for Pete. Pete took a whiff and coughed, "Well that tastes about as bad as it smells."

"Now what?" Clementine asked as she stood back up.

Pete took another whiff of the cigarette and said, "Now, we wait." Pete replied.

Clementine sat down next to Pete and hugged her legs. She and Pete waited and hoped rescue would come.

**Night**

The van was rather dark but it was somewhat lit up by the full moon in the night sky. Clementine was asleep until she could hear Pete coughing. Clementine's eyes shot open as she crawled backwards and away from Pete. She got up and approached Pete with her newly acquired knife at the ready just in case Pete was gone. "Pete…?" Clementine asked.

Pete coughed again and got himself upright. Blood covered his mouth and his skin was very pale; in many ways Pete reminded Clementine of her late friend Duck. "Dammit, I feel like ten pounds of shit in a five pound sack." He coughed more and then spat out some blood as Clementine crouched down on her knees. "My stars. We've been stuck in this can all day." Pete then huffed before he continued, "You want to hear something funny? I've been thinking, and I don't want to die." Pete went into a coughing and laughing frenzy as Clementine looked to him with a frown. Pete regained his composure and he said, "I never thought that I would be the kind of idiot to say something like that. But there it is. I'm scared Clementine; I really am."

"You're going to be okay." Clementine said.

"At least spare me the bedside bullshit." Pete said.

"Sorry." Clementine replied.

"Would you… would you promise me you'll watch out for Nick?" Pete asked. "I love that stupid kid…"

"I'll do what I can." Clementine replied.

"Thank you." Pete said. He smiled and he said, "You know… when Luke and I found you and Keith in those woods… I don't know… you gave me hope that there is a future for our little group. Despite what the others think, I trust Keith; he always was a good boy. Too bad his dad is a piece of shit." Pete looked to Clementine and he said, "You're the same way. For the short time, I've known you… you saved my life back there… you gave me time to think and consider everything. I don't think I can repay you for that." Clementine smiled but Pete started to frown. "Been almost a day. They ain't going to find us."

Pete then started to get up. He struggled to do so as Clementine asked, "Where are you going?"

Pete opened the back of the van to get a quick glance. Clementine couldn't see much but she could tell that the walkers weren't surrounding the van. "I'm not getting outta this. You're gonna have to make a break for it. I'll buy you some time." Pete said.

"You're coming with me." Clementine said.

"To do what?" Pete asked. "Die a couple hours later from now?"

"To say goodbye to Nick." Clementine replied.

Pete sighed and he said, "Alright. I'll try." Pete groaned as he struggled to get off the van floor, "Well… like my daddy used to say, we're burning daylight." Clementine grabbed her backpack and nodded as a signal that she was ready. "Let's get this over with." Pete said.

They exited the van and got to the ground. Everything seemed clear until a walker appeared next to Pete. It growled as it tried to catch one of the two survivors with its arms. Pete and Clementine ran from the creature while the other walkers nearby took notice of the two. Unfortunately, Pete fell and yelled out in pain. Clementine looked back as Pete struggled to get back up. "This ain't going to work." Pete said. "Go on now. Find my nephew."

"You have to try!" Clementine exclaimed as she went back and grabbed Pete's arm.

"I said, go!" Pete shot back and he pushed her away. "Dammit just go!" Having no other choice, Clementine did as Pete had asked of her and she ran. "Run!" Pete yelled. Clementine noticed a couple of walkers heading for her but she was able to avoid them and she continued to run for the cabin.

**Morning**

Clementine could finally see the cabin. There were no walkers in sight which was a relief. She used her remaining energy to reach the door; she huffed to catch her breath before she went inside. She looked around the kitchen to find anyone and then she heard a couple of chairs scoot back. "Clementine! Are you alright?" Carlos asked as Clementine turned around to see him and Rebecca. "Luke's not with you?"

"Where's Alvin?" Rebecca exclaimed.

Clementine looked down with a frown and shook her head. "What happened?" Carlos asked. "It has been hours. Where are they?" Carlos inquired as he walked up to the young girl.

"Clem?" Rebecca said as she ran up to the girl.

Clementine looked up and she said, "Pete got bit."

"What?" Rebecca exclaimed. Her previous glare was replaced with a surprised stare.

"What happened?" Carlos asked.

"Walkers." Clementine said.

"My gosh." Carlos said. Fear was evident in his features.

"Where were you? Where were you exactly?" Rebecca asked with a scowl.

"Down by the river." Clementine replied.

"We have to go there." Rebecca said.

"Just hold on a minute." Carlos said.

"My husband is still out there!" Rebecca exclaimed. "Get the guns!"

Carlos was stunned for a moment but he ran for the living room anyway.

"Luke and Alvin went out looking for you. I told them not to go." Rebecca explained. "Dammit Luke."

Carlos returned with a hunting rifle and a handgun. He gave the hunting rifle to Rebecca while he kept the handgun. The two then started to walk out the door until Carlos turned to Clementine and he said, "Clementine, can you… can you please watch Sarah. Just distract her and don't tell her anything about what happened."

Clementine crossed her arms over her chest and she said, "I thought that I wasn't supposed to go anywhere near Sarah or there would be 'serious consequences.'" Clementine replied using air quotes around the last two words.

Carlos was shocked by the girl's memory and he said, "Clementine, I'm sorry. I was wrong. Please, just watch her."

Clementine sighed and she said, "I will for Sarah's sake."

"Thank you." Carlos replied.

"Carlos let's go!" Rebecca exclaimed. Carlos turned and rushed out of the house which left Clementine in the conjoined kitchen and dining room.

Clementine left to go into the living room to try and find Sarah. Having no luck, Clementine went upstairs and opened the door to Sarah's room. "Say cheese." Sarah said followed by a flash of light. "I found this camera underneath the cabin with a bunch of other stuff." Sarah explained as the photo came out. She handed the photo to Clementine, and the eleven year old looked over the photo. "It's so cool." Sarah said. She handed the camera to Clementine and continued, "Here take a picture of me."

"Sure." Clementine said as she grabbed the camera and snapped a photo of Sarah. She took the photo from the camera and allowed the picture to develop.

"Hey where's my dad?" Sarah asked.

"He'll be back soon." Clementine replied.

However, Sarah sniveled and went toward the window. She continued to cry for a couple of seconds until she uttered an apology. "I'm sorry. I just… need a minute." Sarah said. She sat down on the ground and hugged her legs. Clementine got down in front of the girl and placed a supportive hand on her shoulder. "You want to see what else I found under the house." Sarah asked with a bit more optimism in her voice.

Sarah went into her nightstand and pulled out a handgun. "There's no bullets left in it… Do you think you can teach me how to shoot?" Clementine's eyes widened. This was a perfect opportunity to teach Sarah how to shoot. Her dad wasn't around to hinder her and none of the cabin members could interfere.

"Okay, but it's not a toy." Clementine said with a serious tone in her voice.

"I know that." Sarah said

"First remember, it's just a thing." Clementine said.

"What does that mean?" Sarah asked as she placed her hands in incorrect positions on the gun. It was fortunate that she didn't find any bullets, otherwise if the gun was fired at that very moment, Sarah would break every bone in her hand and some in her arms.

"It means that a gun is a tool, and it can't hurt you unless you do something dumb." Clementine said. "But we won't have to worry too much about that, considering how smart you are."

"I thought it would be heavier." Sarah said as she held the gun. "Okay so what should I do next?"

"The most important thing is when you go to shoot, you take a breath before you pull the trigger." Clementine said as she adjusted Sarah's grip on the gun to one which wouldn't harm her. Sarah took in a huge breath and held it until Clementine told her, "Not that big."

Sarah relinquished her breath and looked around with the gun. She then looked towards Clementine and accidentally aimed the gun at her. "What should I shoot?" Sarah asked.

"Don't do that!" Clementine exclaimed as she immediately ducked.

"Sorry… so sorry." Sarah said. "Maybe I should practice outside." Sarah turned and went toward the window. "There's that tree." Sarah said as she looked out the window. "Hey Luke's back!" Sarah said with a cheerful tone of voice. Clementine went to the window and noticed a shadow from a figure that was approaching the cabin. Sarah left the room as Clementine followed her.

As she headed down the stairs, Clementine caught a glimpse of the figure yet again as it passed by the window. Something didn't look right; the figure didn't look like Luke and Clementine knew it. She walked over toward Sarah as the older girl leaned against the wall. "That's not Luke." Sarah said. They both looked to the door as someone was heard knocking on it. "Clem, I…I think I know him. He can't see me. You have to make him go away." Sarah was starting to panic.

"Go hide." Clementine said.

Sarah looked around and asked, "Where?"

"Hello?" The figure from behind the door said as he knocked on it again.

Sarah started to hyperventilate and she exclaimed, "Clem… I-I can't breathe. I can't breathe"

Clementine shushed the girl and she started to walk towards the door. She reached for the lock and was about to touch it when the door opened up. "Why hello there." The man on the other side of the door said. He seemed to be in his fifties, maybe younger. He wore a brown fur coat, a pair of jeans, and a pair of steel-toe boots. Clementine's eyes widened when she saw his face. His hair was thick and graying and his eyes… she has seen those eyes before. It was Keith's eyes. No way could she forget his eyes. They were different on him though. Keith's eyes showed caring and kindness, while the man's was cold and insincere. They were also not quite as large as Keith's. "How are you?" The man asked.

"Okay, how about you?" Clementine asked. She eyed the man with a suspicious stare. She did not trust him in the slightest.

"Just fine, thanks for asking." The man replied. "My group and I are set up down near the river. I'm surprised that we hadn't ran into each other yet." The man said as he signaled down toward the river all the while getting his point across. He was subtly showing that he was armed and wasn't afraid of using the revolver. He smirked when he saw Clementine's eyes widened, but she regained her focus and looked up to the man. He relaxed and said, "So what's your name?"

"What's your name?" Clementine asked.

"Me, my name is George, darling." The man replied. He then started to walk in as he said, "I don't mean to bother you, but I do need a couple of minutes of your time." He looked around the cabin and examined the pictures and trophies along the wall. "This is a real nice place. Is there anyone else around?"

"I'm alone." Clementine replied.

"Really?" George asked.

"Yeah, I can take care of myself." Clementine replied.

"Well, I'm impressed." George said. "Anyway, I'll cut to the chase. I'm out here looking for my people, eight of them to be exact. They've been out here on their own, and I'm afraid that they have all gotten lost." The man who called himself George then described the people, "A couple of farm boys and an old man. A Spanish man and his daughter. A quiet girl, a bit taller than you. A big black guy, about this big." The man indicated with his hands. "A pretty, little pregnant lady and a little boy who's around your age."

"That's a lot of people to lose." Clementine said.

"Tell me about it. This whole thing is a damn mess." George complained. He looked into the kitchen to see if anyone was inside before he entered the conjoined kitchen and dining room. Clementine followed as the man looked around the kitchen. He went up to the sink and he said, "Well it looks like a damn tornado ran through here. Lot of plates for just one person."

"I don't ever do the dishes." Clementine said as she slouched against the countertop away from George. She then noticed a sharp knife out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey, believe me, I don't either." George said. "Just passing through or have you been here for a while? Listen kid, I'm hoping that you aren't going north and hoping to find Shangri-La. I'm not sure why you would go anywhere after finding this place."

"Just passing through, heading north." Clementine said.

"A whole lot of people are heading north recently. Me, I don't get it. There's just a whole lot of nothing up there just like there is down here." George said.

"The cold slows them down." Clementine replied.

"Yeah, well to me that's not worth the trade off." George said.

Clementine eyed the knife again. She felt nervous having it out especially with George near it. She wasn't sure what he was capable of. The man followed her line of vision and went to the knife. He picked it up and Clementine jumped when he faced her. "Where does this go?" George asked.

"Over there." Clementine said as she pointed to the drawer. George placed the knife back in the drawer and then left the kitchen. He went back into the living room.

"Well this is a real nice place." He said as Clementine followed him. "Kind of cozy." He looked to the couch and he said, "I knew a man who always wore shirts like this. A doctor. A real smug son of a bitch."

"What happened to him?" Clementine asked.

"He betrayed me. People will always find one or more reasons to cross you. It happens all the time." George said. Clementine nodded; she knew that first hand when the stranger abused her trust and kidnapped her.

"Uh oh. White's in trouble." George said which snapped Clementine out of her thoughts. "Three moves away from checkmate." Suddenly, there was a noticeable creak and George perked up. He went toward the stairs and looked up to the second story as a door slammed shut. He looked back to the girl and he said, "I thought you said there was nobody here."

"It might have been just the wind." Clementine said.

George was unconvinced and pulled out his revolver. He headed up the stairs while Clementine stared on in horror. George reached the top of the stairs and opened the door to Sarah's room. Clementine followed in, and looked around. She breathed a sigh of relief upon not seeing Sarah. "I told you. No one's here." Clementine said.

"Seems that way." George said as he went to the window and holstered his gun. "I didn't mean to be rude. I just couldn't leave you here with a good conscious knowing that someone could be skulking around."

"Sure." Clementine said.

George went to leave the room until he saw something on the ground, and he picked up the photo that Clementine took of Sarah. He got up and smirked. "Who is this?" George asked as he showed the photo to Clementine.

"It must have been someone who used to live here." Clementine replied.

"Must be." George said as he glared at the girl.

She sent back the glare and crossed her arms over her chest to show that she wasn't intimidated. "You have no idea who these people are, do you?" George asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Clementine replied as she struggled to keep up with the façade.

"Let me ask you. When you met them, how much they trust you?" George asked.

Clementine's arms fell to her side, and she looked to the floor. "They did lock me in the shed." Clementine said.

"You see, now that's my point." George said. "How can you trust them when they don't trust you?" George looked around and he said, "Well, I think I've bothered you enough. I can let myself out." He then left Sarah's room and descended the stairs. Clementine walked out of the room and looked down at him.

One question plagued her mind until she asked, "Why shouldn't I trust them?"

"You have a real good day now." George replied and he left the house.

Clementine went back into Sarah's room and looked out the window to see George heading off into the forest. At the same time, she could hear Sarah struggling to get out from under the bed. Sarah stood up straight and asked, "Where is he?"

"He's gone." Clementine said.

"What if he comes back?" Sarah asked. Clementine didn't answer; she didn't know what to do if the man named 'George' would return…

…**To be continued.**

**A/N: Sorry, no Keith in this chapter. Just a weak set-up chapter. Don't worry though. Next time will be much better.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Clementine and Sarah sat on the couch anxiously waiting for the group to return. Clementine was noticeably more on edge. The longer they waited, the more likely George would return. He knows that Clementine is in league with the cabin members, and more than likely, she will share their fate.

Sarah, on the other hand, was looking down at her shoes and seemed distant. Clementine noticed this and asked, "Sarah, are you alright?"

Sarah looked to Clementine and asked, "You're with us, right Clem?"

Clementine immediately looked down sadly and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Sarah. I know that I promised you, but Keith and I have to move on."

"But you promised!" Sarah exclaimed.

Clementine sighed and said, "Sarah, you're dad doesn't like me. Rebecca threatened that she will kill me the night that I spent with you guys, all because I'm a stranger. Imagine what your group will do to Keith now."

"Well, they haven't done anything to him yet." Sarah said. "Keith is still out there in the shed."

Clementine's eyes lit up at the fact that Keith was still alive and okay, but she did not show a smile as Sarah looked to her sadly, "Please, don't go. I can't explain why my group is so mean to you but you'll always have a friend in me."

Clementine smiled and said, "Thanks Sarah, you don't know how much that means to me." Sarah smiled back somewhat sadly. She didn't want Keith and Clementine to go, but there wasn't much she could do.

A long pause followed within the room and Sarah asked, "You'll stay with us, won't you?"

"As long as Keith and I don't get hurt by your group, then yes." Clementine replied. She then grew anxious again. All she could focus on was time… they had to leave the cabin now! "We need to find the others." Clementine said hastily and she got up from the couch.

"But we can't go outside." Sarah objected.

Clementine went into the living room and was greeted to the door opening with the cabin members returning along with Nick. "Clementine." Luke said surprised to see the girl was still okay.

Sarah rushed past Clementine and toward Carlos as he exclaimed her name. "Sarah." Carlos then hugged his daughter, thankful to see her.

"You were with Pete, right?" Luke asked. "Come on, we got to go find him."

"A man was here." Sarah admitted

"What?" Carlos exclaimed.

"What did she say?" Rebecca asked.

"Someone came to the cabin… Clementine talked to him." Sarah said.

"…And you just opened the door for him?" Rebecca inquired as she scowled at Clementine.

"Rebecca calm down." Luke said.

"Calm down? I am calm! You calm down!" Rebecca exclaimed.

"I didn't open the door. He just came in." Clementine said calmly.

"She's telling the truth." Sarah said.

"Did he say what his name was?" Carlos inquired. "Did he say what his name was?"

"Maybe it wasn't him." Rebecca said.

"You know damn well who it was." Alvin said angrily.

Clementine looked to the cabin members surprised by their radical change in attitude. They went from being slightly hostile to being actually afraid. "He said his name was George." Clementine said. "But I think he was lying."

"Clementine, just tell us what he looked like." Carlos demanded. "What was he wearing? What did he sound like?"

Clementine ignored both questions and said, "His eyes were… like Keith's, brown and clear."

"Did he look like Keith?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, kind of." Clementine replied as she nodded.

"He talked about you dad." Sarah added. "You're not going to hurt anyone, are you?"

"Of course he is not, Sarah. Your dad is a very reasonable man. And he isn't going to do anything that is crazy or… not nice, right?" Luke inquired as he scowled at Carlos.

Carlos placed a hand on Sarah's shoulder comfortingly and said, "You know these are bad people, sweetie. They will do or say anything to hurt us." Sarah looked down sadly and nodded understandingly.

All right, what do you think?" Luke asked as he turned to Clementine. "Did it look like he was coming back?"

Before Clementine could answer, Sarah replied, "He saw a picture of me." Sarah then took the photo out from her pocket.

"A picture?" Carlos bellowed as he took the picture from Sarah. "What were you doing taking pictures?" Sarah looked down sadly as her father scolded her.

"Carlos!" Luke yelled.

"What?" Carlos inquired.

"You need to calm down." Luke said calmly. "You're scaring your daughter."

"I took the picture. It's my fault." Clementine confessed.

"No, I asked her to. It's my fault." Sarah said.

"Sarah…" Carlos said disappointedly. Meanwhile, Nick paced around the door nervously. Carlos balled up his fist and tried to think of what to do next until he finally spoke. "He was scouting…" Carlos concluded. "We got lucky. He didn't expect to find us here. Clementine must have surprised him. If she hadn't been here… well he was too smart to stick around, but he'll be back with the rest."

"He's right." Luke agreed. "Everyone pack up. We're moving out."

Alvin stormed past Luke angrily and headed for his and Rebecca's room. "Alvin wait!" Rebecca exclaimed as she ran after him.

Carlos focused his attention to Sarah and said, "We have to leave now sweetie before he shows up with more bad guys. But it's going to be okay."

"What does he want?" Clementine asked.

"To take us back." Carlos stated bluntly. "Listen Clementine, I don't know what he told you but William Carver is a dangerous man. He is the leader of a camp that's not far from here, and he is very smart… we were lucky to escape from him. Look, I'm sorry to involve you but now that he has seen you, it would be safer to come with us."

Sarah left the conjoined dining room and kitchen and went to gather her supplies. Carlos followed her to help her as Luke said, "We need to get going."

"We need to go find Pete." Nick said impatiently.

"We'll get him on the way out, Nick." Luke replied. "Clementine, you know where he was, right?"

"Yeah… but I'm not taking you anywhere." Clementine replied. Both men raised an eyebrow at her and she continued with a smile, "I'm not going anywhere without Keith."

Luke smiled and said, "All right, let's go check on him."

* * *

After the group gathered the essential items for the trip, they went to the shed. Clementine took the lead with Luke close behind. She was anxious to see Keith; she hadn't seen him for a couple of days now and she was worried. Luke unlocked the shed door and opened it to see Keith looking up at the two. "Hey, you guys are here to bust me out or something?" Keith asked.

Clementine smiled and immediately ran to the boy. Keith got up and the two hugged each other. "I'm glad you're okay." Clementine said. They separated from the hug and Keith nodded in Clementine's direction.

Carlos approached Keith and said, "Let me look at your arm." Keith looked to the man questioningly until he remembered that he was shot. Nick must have not told his group of his actions. He obliged and took off his green hooded sweater. Carlos looked at the bandages that were starting to become red from the rough stitching that Nick did the other night. Carlos looked stun but only for a couple of seconds as his face warped to anger. "You went back into our cabin and stole from us again, didn't you?"

"No I-I didn't. They were from my own stash." Keith lied. He didn't want Nick to get in trouble on his behalf.

Carlos gripped the boy's arms and Keith jumped as the man made contact with the sore part of his arm. "Don't lie to me!" Carlos snapped as he shook the boy. "You better one hell of an explanation for this."

"Carlos, get your hands off of him." Nick said. "He didn't take your supplies; I did."

Carlos immediately released Keith and looked to Nick with a disappointed look. "Why? Why would you double-cross us like this? You've done some stupid things before Nick but this was going too far."

"I shot him." Nick gestured to Keith. "It was because of me that he was hurt in the first place. I had to make amends."

Carlos sighed and looked back over to Keith and said, "I'm sorry that I made a quick judgment call, Keith." Carlos then scowled at Nick and said, "If you ever steal from us again, there will be serious consequences."

Nick looked down and nodded. "Yes sir."

"For now, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but in the future, you need to control your pride." Carlos said. Nick nodded and the group started to head out.

Keith quickly got his hooded sweater back on and walked alongside Clementine with his slingshot at the ready. "So everything okay?" Keith asked.

"Yeah, it's better now that I know you're okay." Clementine said.

Keith looked over to Nick who was talking to Luke and said, "I don't think I would have survived without Nick's help."

"Yeah." Clementine said happily as she looked to the young man who was responsible for helping her friend.

Keith started to look around the group with a questioning stare. He finally said. "Okay, bring me up to speed. What's going on? Why are we all leaving the cabin and where's Pete?"

Clementine looked down sadly and said, "Nick, Pete, and I went to the river to catch some fish yesterday morning. There were a lot of bodies when we got there; it was a massacre." Keith's eyes widened in horror at the thought of so much destruction. "At some point, Pete and I were separated from Nick and we found shelter in a van. That's when I learned that Pete was bit. Last night, we tried to make a break for it, but Pete couldn't keep up. He might have been able to get back into the van, but…"

Keith looked to Clementine sadly and said, "I'm sorry Clem, but like I said before when we were in that shed, once you're bit, it's over."

"You don't know that!" Nick exclaimed as he glared at Keith.

"I'm sorry, Nick, but that's just how it works. I wish it wasn't that way." Keith said. Nick grumbled in response and Keith turned to Clementine, "So the whole group is out looking for Pete, right?"

"I wish that was all." Clementine said somewhat terrified. "Keith… I think I met you dad."

Keith's widened in horror as the rest of the group looked to the boy and noticed his reaction. Both Rebecca and Carlos were surprised by the boy's reaction. They had expected Keith to be working with Carver the whole time, but that was not the case. "No, no, this can't be happening! He found us!"

Nick turned to the boy and got down to eye-level with him and grabbed his shoulders, being careful not to irritate Keith's sore arm. "Keith, calm down. That's why we're leaving the cabin." The group stopped as Nick calmed the young boy down and he continued, "You're going to attract lurkers if you yell that loudly."

"Sorry, I'm just…" Keith contemplated on his next set of words until he abruptly said, "Forget it. We got to move on. If my dad is chasing us, we're going to need to get as much distance between him and us as possible."

Nick smiled and nodded. He released Keith from his grip and the group continued in their trek through the woods.

**25 Minutes Later**

"Now you said it was just up here?" Luke asked as he looked around for any sign of Pete.

"Yeah, just a little ways." Clementine replied.

"Hey Clem, Keith." Rebecca said as she approached the young girl and boy who were still walking side by side. "Sorry if I gave you both some shit back there. I'm just a little stressed over the baby."

"You don't want to kill me anymore, right?" Clementine asked genuinely afraid that the threat was still real.

"No, honey." Rebecca said remorsefully. "I should have never made that threat. I'm sorry. It's just a tough time with the pregnancy and all."

"I understand that." Keith said.

Rebecca raised an eyebrow and asked, "How would you know about that?"

"When my aunt was pregnant with my little cousin, she would act really mean to me. On the bright side, I did get to hold my little cousin when he was born." Keith replied. "He was quite adorable."

"Aww that's cute." Clementine said. "What happened to your cousin?"

Keith looked down sadly and said, "He didn't make it."

Clementine looked to Keith remorsefully. She placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." Clementine said.

"Don't worry about it." Keith replied. "All we can do anymore is grieve quickly and move on. Rest with one eye open, until your time comes." Keith's tone of voice was dark and depressing and both Clementine and Rebecca looked to the boy worriedly. He shook his head to readjust his focus and said, "I'm sorry… I don't know why I said that. It just… came out of me. I guess I need to read the Good Book more often." Keith said.

"It's okay, Keith. We've all had dark days." Rebecca replied.

Keith nodded and slowed his pace to talk with Nick was now in the back of the group.

Rebecca continued and asked, "Is there something wrong with Keith? He seems so distant. When we were still at Howe's, Carver's community, he would always have a cheerful personality."

Clementine felt conflicted of whether to tell Keith's story to Rebecca or not. She wanted to tell someone so that Keith could be understood better, but it was his story. Keith had to tell the group, not her. Clementine didn't answer the woman. In return, Rebecca continued with a new subject.

"Anyway, Alvin and I still don't know what to call her or him if that man gets his wish." Rebecca indicated to her baby. "I'm going to need help if that wish comes true. Any ideas for baby names?" Rebecca asked. However, Clementine was only half listening as she eyed the area. The area itself looked familiar. She started to walk into the woods as Rebecca asked, "What do you think, Clem?" Rebecca then noticed that the young girl was not at her side. She looked over to see Clementine go deeper into the nearby woods and asked, "Clem?"

It was at that point the group noticed Clementine walking into the woods. They followed her as she approached an abandoned van, the same one that she and Pete took refuge in. "There, that's where we were." Clementine replied.

The group walked next to Clementine and Nick looked on in horror. He braced himself for the worst possible scenario and ran towards the van with a reckless jog. Thankfully for him, Keith had the sling back on his slingshot, readied to fire, just in case Nick was attacked. Nick opened the back doors of the van and exclaimed, "He's not in here." Keith lowered his slingshot and relaxed his arm.

"This was the last place I saw him." Clementine said as Nick looked back to the young girl.

"Maybe he's around here somewhere." Alvin said.

Nick looked around frantically for Pete as Luke separated from the rest of the group. He looked behind a few trees as Nick went towards the opposite direction. "Keep your eyes open." Carlos said. "And stay in sight."

Clementine went over to the van and Keith joined her as everyone else scattered. Keith then noticed some fresh blood on the ground that looked to be human blood due to its brighter red hue as opposed to the dark red blood of the walkers. He signaled Clementine to follow him; she nodded as he brought out his pocket knife. He opened up the blade as he followed the blood trail until it went behind a rock. "Uncle Pete!" Nick called out. They went behind the rock and they both looked on in horror to see Pete's dead body. It was ripped apart and next to it laid a dead walker. Nick and Luke walked up to the scene and Nick exclaimed, "Holy shit! What happened? What the hell happened?"

Keith looked over Pete and came to an immediate conclusion, "He has been shot. My word, this is… is this my dad's doing?" Nick started to cry silently. Luke noticed this and tried to comfort his best friend.

"He didn't have a gun." Clementine remarked.

"What?" Nick exclaimed as he escaped Luke's grasp.

"He didn't have a gun." Clementine repeated.

Nick stood in front of the body and his features quickly turned from sadness to anger and he directed every bit of the anger toward Keith in a glare. "Are you happy, now?" Nick inquired; his rage was building up and he continued. "Your dad killed my uncle!" Nick approached Keith threateningly as Keith got up and started to backpedal.

"Nick, it's not his fault." Carlos said. "Carver did this, not Keith."

"They're one in the same, Carlos!" Nick bellowed. "What is Keith's last name? It's f****** Carver!" With that Nick pushed Carlos aside and was about to attack Keith. Keith backed away further until he tripped over one of Pete's arms.

Thankfully for Keith, Luke was able to restrain Nick by putting him in a full nelson. "Let go of me!" Nick bellowed as kicked the air in a desperate attempt to get free from Luke's grasp.

"No way, brother. You need to calm down." Luke said. "Think about what you are about to do. Would Pete have wanted you to do this?"

"Shut the f*** up!" Nick exclaimed. "Pete's dead now thanks to that stupid kid." The said boy got off the ground shakily, still afraid that Nick would harm him.

"Look Nick, this isn't the way. Just calm down." Luke exclaimed. Nick stopped flailing and huffed angrily from his previous attempts to get free.

Luke released Nick, seeing that Nick was under control. Nick turned to his friend and said, "We got to do something about him. We can't just have him free to do whatever the heck he wants." Nick said as he gestured to Keith.

"Look, we'll think of something, but for now we need to go." Carlos said. Everyone agreed by their actions of leaving the area with the exception of Nick and Luke.

"He's gone Nick. He-He's gone. Come on, we got to get moving. Come on man." Luke said as he tried to physically force his friend to move on. Nick brushed him off and glared at Keith as he and Clementine walked side-by-side.

"He wouldn't have died if it wasn't for that kid." Nick grumbled.

"Nick listen you've lost someone. That loss is clouding your judgment. I know the real Nick would never blame someone's death on a kid." Luke said.

Nick turned around and glared at Luke and said, "Wake the f*** up! The 'real Nick' died a long time ago, when all this shit got started! We're going to do something about that kid; he isn't getting away with murder!" Nick then stormed off, leaving Luke to look at his friend sadly. He looked over to Pete one last time and sighed. He finally left the area and caught up with the rest of the group.

* * *

The group kept walking along in silence as they mourned for Pete's death. The trees and cold weather did little to lift the atmosphere of the group. Finally, Nick approached Clementine and said, "Tell me, tell me how it happened."

"He… He saved my life." Clementine replied sadly.

"Well, that was… that was Pete." Luke said.

"Nick, I'm so sorry for your loss." Keith said. "I understand how it feels to lose the last person you ever cared about."

"No you don't!" Nick said angrily. "You don't know me and you don't know Pete."

"I didn't kill Pete!" Keith exclaimed.

"F*** you." Nick said. Nick suddenly became saddened and continued, "You'll never understand how I feel." Nick then slowed his pace to where he was in the back of the group again and hung his head sadly.

Keith was feeling less than optimistic as well. He felt that Nick hated him now, over something that he had no part in or could even control.

"Listen, I'm still worried about him." Luke said as he gestured to Nick. "Could you two keep an eye on him?"

"Yeah, I promised Pete I would." Clementine replied.

"It might be best if I keep my distance but I'll do what I can." Keith added.

"Good…" Luke remarked. "You sure you want to come with us?" Luke asked as he recalled what Clementine wanted to do a couple nights prior. "Look, I know we got off to a rough start. And it probably ain't going to get better."

"That's real encouraging." Keith joked.

"Sorry, just… telling you the truth." Luke replied.

Clementine huffed and said, "Where else am I going to go? I have to find Christa but I can't do it alone."

"You'll never be alone, as long as I'm around." Keith said. Clementine looked to the boy with a small smile and a slight blush. He returned the smile and blush as the two looked affectionately toward each other.

"Whoa, okay you two slow down." Luke said playfully. "Man, you kids grow up way too quick. Anyway, I got to stick by my group, but I'll do all I can to help you find that Christa woman." Luke said.

"Thanks Luke." Clementine said.

Luke nodded and said, "I figure we got about four to five days till we reach those mountains. If they're tracking us, we should be able to lose them up there."

"Five days?" Rebecca asked worriedly.

"It's going to be okay, Bec." Alvin comforted his wife.

"We have to keep moving. It's our only choice." Carlos said. With that, the group remained quiet as they moved through the forest in a desperate attempt to lose their pursuers.

**Hours Later**

The group had settled down for the night and were asleep. The fire was put out a long time ago and almost everyone was asleep. Nick was the exception as he stared off into the stars, still mourning Pete. "What am I supposed to do?" Nick whispered. "Just forgive him? I wish you were here Uncle Pete; you'd know what to do." He finally got out from under the blanket and went over to the extinguished campfire, contemplating on the day's events.

Nick then heard sniveling and whimpering but he wasn't the only one. Keith woke up after a couple of jabs and kicks to his back. He got up and looked over to his sleeping mate, Clementine, to see her thrashing and whimpering in her sleep. She was wrapped up in a nightmare. Keith nudged the girl awake and whispered, "Clem, Clem wake up. It's just a dream."

The girl's eyes finally shot open and she sat up huffing heavily. "Hey, hey it was just a dream." Keith said as he placed an arm on her shoulder.

She flinched but then her eyes softened when she saw Keith's figure. "Duck?" Clementine asked.

Keith was confused at what Clementine called him and then he remembered that Duck was the name of her friend. "No, it's Keith." Visible tears could be seen coming from her eyes and she looked off distantly. "You alright?" Keith asked. Clementine nodded in response. "Do you want to talk about it?" She shook her head. "Okay, if you ever reach a point where you want to talk, just let me know." Keith said as he rubbed her back. She nodded back understandingly and laid back down. Keith laid back down as well and looked to her as she looked to him.

Clementine was the first to fall asleep feeling the comfort and warmth that Keith provided. Somehow, he would always brighten her day and vice versa. As she laid there sleeping Keith couldn't help but have a deep affection towards the girl. He wanted to protect her at any and all cost, even his life. However, he hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Keith got up carefully so not to disturb Clementine from her sleep. Once he got up, he looked affectionately towards Clementine. Keith slowly got back down and kissed her lightly on the cheek and readjusted the blanket to tuck her in. Keith smiled to see that he hadn't waken her. He then looked over and saw Nick at the extinguished campfire. The man had a smirk which indicated that he saw what Keith did. Keith slowly walked over to the young man and said, "You didn't happen to see that, right?"

"F*** yeah I saw it." Nick snickered. "So, how long have you two been a couple, Boy Wonder?"

"First off, we're not a couple. Second, Boy Wonder, seriously?" Keith inquired.

Nick laughed and said, "Hey why not. You're using a slingshot as your main weapon in defense. That's something Robin would have done."

"Well if I'm Robin, that means you must be Batman." Keith said.

Nick laughed in response. Despite the fact that Keith was forced to grow up in a shitty world, he still tried to retain some of his innocence and playfulness. "Hah deal, but I'm going to call you Boy Wonder more often than Robin."

Keith chuckled in response and the two stared at the extinguished campfire. Neither spoke for several minutes until Keith asked, "So couldn't sleep, huh?"

"No." Nick replied as he shook his head. "I just… keep thinking about Pete."

"I feel you. When I lost mom and Derrick, I think I went through a couple of nights where I couldn't sleep." Keith said but he immediately jumped when he realized what he said.

Nick looked wide eyed at Keith and said, "My gosh. Derrick and Erin, they're both dead."

Keith looked down sadly and said, "Yeah…" Keith huffed and continued, "Carver killed my mom by using a walker and Troy killed Derrick."

Nick's features quickly turned from shock to anger and he said, "F*** them, f*** them both!" Nick then looked to the boy who was saddened by remembering that his mom and future step-dad were gone and Nick continued, "I guess you really are one of us."

"Yeah, the people who got screwed by Carver club, go me." Keith said sarcastically as he fist pumped the air in a sarcastic celebration. "No one's going to pick on me at school anymore."

The two both got a chuckle from Keith's antics and then silence remained for several minutes. Keith yawned and covered his mouth with his fist. Nick looked over and said, "Go ahead and go to sleep Keith."

"What about you?" Keith asked.

Nick shook his head and said, "I'm going to stay up for the whole night probably."

Keith knew better than to argue and nodded his head. He knew from personal experience that mourning made a person do strange things, one of those things was thinking all night instead of sleeping. Keith went back over to Clementine and laid next to her. It didn't take much to put him to sleep, after all of the events of today and the exhaustion of walking all day, sleep came quickly and easily…

**A/N: Keith's and Nick's relationship? What do you guys think? **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners. I also do not own **_**Kingdom Hearts**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

"So wait a minute, it's about hearts?" Clementine asked as the group continued their long trek to the mountains. Today marked the fifth day on their journey and the adults, especially Rebecca, were exhausted, but Keith and Clementine kept the adults somewhat motivated through their pre-apocalyptic conversations.

"No, the whole title is Kingdom Hearts. It follows three friends who grew up with each other. Two of which could hold these magical weapons called keyblades." Keith explained.

Wait, keyblade? Is it a sword-like key or something?" Clementine asked.

"Bingo, that's exactly what it is." Keith said.

"Sounds weird." Clementine said.

"You'd have to grow up with it." Keith chuckled. "Of course, I never beat the first game. It was too hard."

"Hey, I think I see our mountain up ahead." Luke said from the front of the group.

"Thank goodness." Rebecca huffed as she sat down on a nearby rock. "I don't think I could keep walking any further."

"Bec, you all right?" Alvin asked. The others scattered with Carlos who checked to see if Sarah was okay and Nick stood at the ready at the forest's edge, acting somewhat fidgety.

"Clem, could you go up on this boulder and take a look of what we got ahead of us?" Luke asked as he pulled out a map to figure out where the group was in correlation of the mountain.

"Sure." Clementine replied and she started to climb the rock. She finally reached the top and pulled out a pair of binoculars that were in her backpack. "There's a huge building on the top of the mountain." Clementine said as she scanned the mountain.

"That's probably the ski lodge that were aiming for." Luke said. "See anything else?"

"I see a lift of some kind." Clementine said as she adjusted her binoculars left of the large building.

"A ski lift probably." Alvin said. "Bec and I went on once."

"It wasn't pretty." Rebecca chuckled.

"I never went skiing." Clementine said somewhat sadly. She kept searching the mountain until she spotted a bridge. It looked somewhat passable but it certainly wasn't in the best of shape and there was also a small house right next to it. "I see the bridge and there's a house next to it."

"How big is the house?" Carlos asked.

"It's really small." Clementine replied. She then descended from the boulder and got to the ground as the group got themselves ready to continue the trek.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Carlos asked. "Let's move."

"Now, hold on. We can't just go across that bridge all at the same time." Luke said.

"What did you have in mind?" Carlos asked.

"Clem and I can scoot across that bridge low and slow and make sure it's safe to cross." Luke said.

"Hold on." Carlos said. "Clementine should stay here; she's… just a…"

"She's what Carlos?" Luke asked.

"She's just a little girl, Luke." Carlos said.

"She's a valuable little girl." Luke shot back.

"You didn't care about that fact when you and the rest of the group put us in that shed." Keith said with a slight glare. He didn't mind being in the shed, but putting Clementine in it was unnecessary.

"That was different. We didn't know you then." Carlos said. "And I wanted to protect Sarah."

"I can do it." Clementine told Carlos.

"I'll come with you." Keith added.

"Nah, all I need is Clem. You stay back Keith." Luke said.

Keith shook his head and said, "Sorry Luke, you can't just take one of us."

"Exactly." Clementine chimed in.

Luke sighed disgruntledly and said, "Alright. We'll signal you guys in ten minutes. Just watch for a light at the far side."

Carlos shook his head disapprovingly and said, "I don't like this."

"Wow, shocker, you don't like something. Tell me something that's new." Keith sassed. "Look, like it or not, we've been through worse. This isn't going to be any different." In response, Carlos glared at the boy.

"If something happens, I'll cover you." Nick said as Luke was getting ready to head out

Luke nodded and looked to Clementine and Keith and said, "Come on."

* * *

"What was that all about?" Clementine asked Keith. "Why were you being mean to Carlos?"

"I don't like being underestimated like that, especially from someone in my own group. I can handle distrust but I can't handle that." Keith replied.

"Since when have you ever been prideful?" Clementine asked.

"It has nothing to do with pride. I just don't want to be seen as a… as a useless kid." Keith replied sadly and he lowered his head. "…That's how my dad saw me."

Clementine looked sympathetically to Keith and placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't. It's just hard to see what my dad has become." Keith said. "I mean he may have killed my mom and future step-dad, but I still love him."

"Anyway, to get off that very depressing note, I'm sorry about that back there, but I could really use your eyes right now." Luke said to Clementine. "Quite frankly, I don't trust Nick to tie his own shoelaces. They're all still on edge after the whole Carver thing. No offense, Keith."

Keith shrugged and replied, "None taken."

"It's been five days. Why would Carver still be following us?" Clementine asked.

Luke contemplated on how to respond to the question and asked both children. "What's the most important thing in this world? What does everyone want?"

"In other word, what do we want?" Keith asked.

"Exactly." Luke said.

Both Clementine and Keith looked at each other and smiled, "Family." They said in unison.

Luke was surprised how they both mirrored each other's thoughts and said, "My gosh, like slow down just a little bit."

"Like we can." Clementine replied. "We're having too much fun."

Luke rolled his eyes and smirked until the entrance of the bridge was in sight. There, he saw two walkers at the entrance of the bridge. He stood their contemplating his options and said, "Hmm… can't shoot them. Too much noise. But they're only two."

"Let's take them." Clementine said.

"I like your style." Luke said. He then approached a boulder and crouched down with the two children accompanying him. "I'll take the big one. And one of you two take shorty."

Keith and Clementine looked to each other and Keith said, "Rock, paper, scissors. The loser takes shorty."

Clementine nodded and brought her hands up to play the game. Luke smiled as the Keith said, "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot."

Clementine had her hand in the shape of a paper and Keith had his in the shape of a rock. "Paper covers rock." Clementine said.

"Darn, I never win this game." Keith complained. "Well, deal's a deal." Keith went into his pocket and pulled out his pocket knife. He approached the short walker as Luke snuck up on the taller and mobile walker. Keith then stabbed the short walker with a grunt as Luke sliced the taller walker.

"Whoa!" Luke exclaimed as he looked over to see if Keith was alright. Keith then tried to pull the knife out but it wouldn't come out.

"I think I'm in need for a new knife. This one isn't cutting it anymore, and pun intended." Keith said as he struggled to pull the knife out.

Clementine smirked and rolled her eyes as she walked over to Luke. "Go ahead. Give it a good pull, it should come free." Luke said.

"I know. I've done this before, remember? In a SHED?" Keith said with a sideways glare as Luke looked down ashamed of that day's events.

After struggling for several seconds, Keith finally pulled the blade out. He examined it and saw it was getting dull which explained why he struggled to remove the knife. "I'm going to need to sharpen this thing." Keith said as he closed up the blade.

Keith nodded indicating that he was ready to move on and the three continued moving forward on the bridge. Keith pulled out his slingshot and grabbed a rock that was in a side pouch on his backpack. Two walkers were on the bridge and were headed for the three. The three then heard a walker coming at them from behind. They turned around and Luke cursed, "Shit."

"This isn't going to be easy." Keith said as he brought back the sling.

Luke brought out his machete and approached the walker that was coming from the rear. He was about to attack when part of the bridge collapsed underneath his feet.

"Oh crap! Luke?" Clementine exclaimed. Keith relaxed his arm and saw the gaping hole where Luke and his targeted walker were.

The two ran towards the hole in the bridge to see that Luke was hanging on by a couple of metal poles, and his targeted walker was struggling to get to him but was impaled and wasn't going to be able to free itself. "Clem, Keith, I'm okay. I'm just stuck."

Clementine tried to reach for Luke and said, "I can't reach."

"It's okay." Luke replied. "Clem, Keith we'll figure something out."

Keith then looked up and saw the two previous walker getting dangerously close to them. "We got company." Keith said as he drew back the sling and shot the walker. The rock didn't kill it but it was pushed back by the rock.

Keith's shot gave Clementine enough time to get up and she attacked the walker with her hammer. The walker growled as it fell to its knees. She then proceeded to hit it on top of the head but the walker moved slightly and she ended up hitting it in the jaw. It hissed at her as she tried to remove the hammer.

Meanwhile, Keith brought back the slingshot at the other walker and shot it. It hit the walker in the leg and it fell over with a growl. Keith approached the walker and finished it off with a quick stab of his pocket knife.

Clementine finally managed to get her hammer back from the creature but part of its jaw went with her and her momentum worked against her as she teetered on the edge of the bridge. The walker that she attacked earlier charged at her, but was suddenly hit by something causing it to fall with a loud grunt. Keith quickly ran over and helped Clementine regain her balance. "You okay?" Keith asked. Clementine quickly hugged him to which he blushed and then hugged back.

"Thank you." Clementine said as they released each other.

"We got to look out for each other, right?" Keith said.

"Hey, married couple, can you help me out before you start congratulating each other?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, we're coming." Keith said as he went over and picked up a rebar.

Clementine eyed the walker that she fought earlier and asked, "How did you kill it with your slingshot."

Keith placed the rebar down and went to the dead walker and lifted its head. He then pointed to the center of the head and said, "Right there. That's the center of the skull, also known as, the weakest spot on the skull."

"How do you know that?" Clementine asked.

Keith sighed and said, "Carlos decided to teach me a bit of Anatomy back at Howe's. It was probably the hardest subject that I ever had to do." He then got up, picked up the rebar, and went over to Luke.

Luke struggled with the walker until Keith used the rebar to kill it. He then handed the rebar to Luke who used it to get up onto the bridge again. Luke huffed as the excitement and the horror of the situation sunk in. He then turned to the two and said, "Thank you, both of you." Clementine and Keith smiled back with a nod. Luke looked towards the end of the bridge and said, "Let's keep going."

They kept going until Luke stopped both Clementine and Keith by extending his arm. "You see him?" Luke asked and the two children looked down towards the end of the bridge to see a man approaching them.

"Yeah." Keith and Clementine said simultaneously.

The unknown man continued to approach the trio and Luke said, "Just play it cool. And you do the talking."

"What? Why us?" Keith asked.

"Cause I don't want to get in a fight. And you really think he'd shoot a little girl and boy?" Luke asked. "Just don't make any sudden moves, okay?"

"What should we say to him?" Clementine asked.

"I don't know. Ask him for directions." Luke said.

The man was finally in ear-shot from the trio and asked. "Well who are you?" The man inquired as Luke kept his hand above his handgun.

"Well, who's asking?" Luke inquired.

"I am." The man replied.

"My name is Clementine and these are my friends Keith and Luke." Clementine replied.

"Clementine, Keith, and Luke." The man shouted to give their names a try. He then got closer to them and said, "You don't look like assholes. Are you assholes? No offense or anything… it's just… you know how it is?"

"Luke is but that's alright." Keith said playfully. "We usually keep him around anyway."

"Hey!" Luke whined.

"See?" Clementine added being equally playful.

"Okay, since when have I ever had you two on my case?" Luke asked with a smirk.

The man laughed at the joke and approached them with a more friendly demeanor, "That was good; I liked that. You three heading up north like everyone else?"

"Everyone else?" Luke asked.

"Yeah there's at least one group a day that passes through here to go up north." The man replied. "It's like the great migration of the dazed and the confused."

"Have you seen a woman come through here named Christa?" Clementine asked.

"Christa, maybe." The man replied.

"Really." Clementine said as her eyes widened and she started to smile at the fact that her guardian might still be alive.

"Nah, I mean a lot of people come through here. I don't know." The man said.

Clementine looked down sadly until she felt a supportive hand on her shoulder, "Just because she hasn't shown up through here, doesn't mean she's gone. We'll find her." Clementine sent an appreciative smile towards Keith as Keith smiled back.

"I have to say, you three look like shit. If you're hungry, I got some canned food in that station back there." The man said as he gestured to the small building that Clementine could see through the binoculars.

"Well, that's uh… awful nice of you. What's the catch?" Luke asked.

"No catch. I got plenty." The man replied.

"Well alright then, thank you." Luke replied.

"Hey no problem. It's nice to run into friendly faces out here." The man said. "Like I said I got food and supplies back in the station and if you want…" The man trailed off as he squinted his eyes towards the other end of the bridge. His eyes widened and he asked, "What the f***, man?"

Luke, Clementine, and Keith turned around and saw Nick running towards them with his hunting rifle in hand. "What in the world is he doing?" Luke asked. Nick then aimed his rifle towards the unknown man. In turn, the unknown man raised his rifle. "No, no, no, no! He's wi- He's with us!" Luke tried to reason. He then turned to Nick and waved his arms in the air and exclaimed, "Nick, no!"

"Put it down!" The man exclaimed.

"Nick, it's a friendly! Stop!" Keith exclaimed.

"Don't shoot!" Clementine exclaimed to both men. Suddenly Luke grabbed both Keith and Clementine and brought them down covering them with his own body. A gunshot rang out and the three looked up and saw the man was shot in the throat. He clutched his throat as blood spewed out but then tripped over the bridge into the water below.

Luke got up and seethed as he approached Nick. "Did I hit him? Where is he?" Nick asked.

"I told you not to shoot." Luke said to Nick.

"What? Who was that guy?" Nick asked.

Keith sighed and said, "He was going to help us."

"How do you know?" Nick asked.

"Dammit, Nick! I was telling you not to shoot!" Luke criticized Nick.

"How was I supposed to know?" Nick asked. "You gave me a clear shot."

"That shot rang out for miles!" Luke snapped. He then waved his hand toward the rest of the group to continue on. "We need to get off this bridge. Let's go." Luke said and he led the way towards the other end of the bridge. Nick followed with a glare and Clementine and Keith followed him.

Clementine looked to Keith who was visibly shaken from the experience and she asked, "Keith are you alright?"

Keith shook his head and said, "That could have been me the day that we found this group. What happened to that guy could have happened to me that day."

"But it didn't." Clementine said.

"I know, it's just… you don't get used to stuff like that." Keith said.

* * *

They finally reached the other side of the bridge with Nick and Luke glaring at each other until the rest of the group came. Rebecca physically struggled to reach a nearby log and asked, "Who the f***… was that back there?"

"I don't know." Luke replied.

"It looked like he had a gun on you." Alvin said.

"That asshole drew on me!" Nick exclaimed. "He was about to shoot."

"Oh was he?" Luke inquired.

"I'm telling you man, he drew first!" Nick snapped.

"Because that's not what it looked like to me." Luke said

"Everyone calm down." Clementine said.

Alvin looked to Clementine and Keith and asked, "Clem, Keith what did you see? Was that man going to shoot?"

"F*** you Luke! You have been on my ass all week!" Nick complained.

"And why do you think that is, Nick?" Luke inquired.

"He was going to help us." Keith admitted sadly.

Nick glared at Keith for not taking his side and said, "I know what I saw!"

"Either way, you could have hit one of us!" Luke said. "Hell, Keith already knows what that feels like."

"When are you going to let that go man?" Nick exclaimed. "I shot Keith by accident so f*** off!"

"Look Nick, I know Pete was close to you, but you-" Luke began to say until Nick glared at him and exclaimed, "Hey, I was just trying to protect you. You, Clem, and Keith are all I have left, man! So if I did something stupid back there, then fine, but I'm not losing anyone else who I consider as a friend." Luke looked shock by Nick's confession and stared at Nick with a somewhat shocked expression.

"Do you think he was with Carver?" Carlos asked.

"I don't know. I… No, I don't think so." Luke said. "He fell off the bridge so it doesn't matter."

"He fell off the damn bridge?" Alvin asked.

"We have to keep moving." Carlos said.

"I can't. I need a minute." Rebecca said

"Fine." Carlos said and he stared at Nick. "Luke, I need a word with you, alone." Luke nodded and the two adults walked over to some nearby brush away from the rest of the group.

Nick sighed and he crouched down to be at the same height as Clementine and Keith and said, "Listen, I may have screwed up back there, but I can't lose anyone, not anymore."

"You were scared that you would lose someone else who you cared for; I understand." Clementine said to the young man.

"That goes double for me, but in the future, don't let your fear and anxiety get the better of you." Keith said.

Nick smiled at both of the children and said, "Thanks, Boy Wonder and hmm…. I need a good nickname for you."

"No you don't." Clementine said.

"How about Babs?" Keith asked.

"Hey perfect, you two are already a couple anyway." Nick said and he got up to join Luke and Carlos.

"Babs? Really?" Clementine asked.

"Hey, why not?" Keith said.

"Because I don't even know who Babs is." Clementine replied.

"It's Batgirl. Babs is her nickname used by Dick Grayson, otherwise known as the first Robin." Keith explained.

"How do you know all this stuff?" Clementine asked.

"You pick up plenty of hobbies when you are in the middle of the apocalypse." Keith replied

Suddenly, Alvin broke up the conversation between the two children and asked, "Hey Clem, Keith you two got any food on you? Bec's dying over here." Alvin then gestured toward his wife.

"Alvin, I told you. I'm fine." Rebecca said.

"Sorry, I'm out." Clementine replied.

"Yeah, same here." Keith added.

"Darn, I wish we still had those juice boxes." Alvin remarked.

"Yeah, me too." Sarah said. She must have discreetly went over next to the log that Rebecca was sitting at since no one noticed her until she spoke up.

Keith eyed the small station house and said, "That man said that he had food in that station."

"Mind if you two could check it out?" Alvin asked. "We might be able to spend the night here."

Keith shook his head and said, "Sorry Alvin, but that doesn't look like a possibility at the moment. The station is way too small, but we can definitely take a look inside for any food." Clementine nodded in agreement.

"Thanks." Alvin said as he went over to the log and sat down next to Rebecca. Keith and Clementine nodded and they went into the building.

Inside, there was a cot with some empty cans near it, a radio that sat on an end table, and a trunk at the foot of the bed. Clementine went up to the radio and tried to get a signal. "Anything?" Keith asked.

Clementine shook her head and said, "Nothing. The battery is dead."

Keith looked around the room trying to find something useful, but then his eyes rested on something. He approached the object which was a hunting knife that was engraved with the initials: MW. He picked it up and checked the blade. "What are you thinking?" Clementine asked.

"The blade is high quality, so we could probably use it to break the lock on that trunk right there." Keith said as he signaled to the large object on the ground.

"Good idea." Clementine said. The two went over and Keith stuck the blade in between the locking mechanism and the trunk and applied pressure. The metal groaned until there was a satisfying crunch sound that came from the lock being destroyed. Keith retracted the knife and offered it to the girl while he placed his hand on top of the trunk, "Here, you could use something sharp, just in case you have to do a quick kill."

Clementine accepted the knife with a smile and said, "Thanks, but I prefer flowers in the future."

"Yes, dear." Keith joked. "Flowers and chocolates, next time." Clementine giggled in response to the joke and placed her hand on top of the trunk. Before Clementine could make an attempt to open it, Keith continued, "So, what are you doing later on today?"

"Surviving, how about you?" Clementine asked.

Keith pondered for a couple of seconds and said, "Bugging you."

"You don't bug me." Clementine said. "You're interesting to listen to."

Keith scoffed and then grew rather serious. "You know, that night I saw you in the river, I took a big risk by saving you. I didn't know if you were dead or if you were corrupt with insanity, but I'm glad that I did save you. You're the best thing that has happened to me in a long time." Keith said as he placed his hand on hers.

"You're the best thing that has happened to me too." Clementine said.

The two looked at each other with a blush. Unable to take another minute of staring at each other, the two started to edge closer to each other until the door was opened by Alvin. The two quickly got away from each other, but Alvin raised an eye-brow. He knew what was going to happen next if he hadn't come in.

"I know Luke usually teases you two about this, but do know each other's boundaries, okay?" Alvin said with a slight smirk on his features.

"Yes sir." They both responded simultaneously.

Alvin smiled as he went over to the trunk and opened it. Clementine and Keith got up and looked inside to see two large cans of peaches and a stack of books. "I guess that man did have food after all." Alvin stated as he grabbed one of the cans and continued, "Man, screw Nick. Nick's lost a lot of his people but that doesn't mean he can just go around shooting up strangers."

"You heard what he said outside. He was just worried about us." Keith said.

"Yeah, but he needs to be careful in the future. I mean he straight up murdered that guy." Alvin replied. Alvin then looked to the can of peaches and smiled and said, "That's funny she looks just like you." Alvin then showed the can to Clementine so there could be a comparison. "Hey, Clem, Keith there's not a lot of food here and Rebecca well… she's eaten for two now. You think you can just keep this between us? I hate to even say it but… and I would never go against the group."

"Rebecca can have it. I won't say anything." Clementine said.

"That goes double for me." Keith added.

"Thank you, both of you." Alvin said. Alvin then went to the window and looked out to Nick. "It's a shame. Nick was a good guy; he still is a good guy. He's just losing it. God knows we aren't perfect… hell I'm happy that you two are with us."

Clementine and Keith smiled to the man in response. Alvin was about to leave when he looked out the window to check on Rebecca but received a shock when he saw several walkers heading towards the group. "What the hell is that?" Alvin asked. Clementine and Keith walked over to the window and both took a turn to see what Alvin was looking at.

"Walkers." Clementine stated.

"That gunshot must have alerted them." Keith said.

"Come on. We got to get everyone out of here." Alvin said and he opened the door. "We have a problem here." Alvin announced and he looked over to the group. However, they noticed the small herd as well and were walking over to the station house ready to move.

"Yeah. We saw it." Luke said. He then turned to the group and said, "All right, we're moving up." Everyone nodded in agreement and they all started up the mountain at a decent pace to avoid the oncoming herd.

**A/N: I like Kingdom Hearts a lot and Keith is kind of a reflection of me in some ways. Those way include being patient, liking Kingdom Hearts, and being a Christian. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

The sky grew gray with the oncoming storm and the lateness of the day as the cabin survivors climbed the hill to the top. Rebecca huffed as she struggled to climb the mountain to its summit. Meanwhile, Carlos and Nick looked across the walkway of the lodge awaiting any form of trouble whether it would be walkers or human beings. "Well? What are we waiting for?" Rebecca asked as she approached the two men.

"We have to be careful." Carlos said.

"Careful? We've been on the road for 5 days." Rebecca responded. "My back is done being careful."

Alvin walked down the walkway examining the windows and said, "It doesn't look like anybody is home." He looked at one of the fortified windows and pulled on it. "No good." Alvin said. "Nailed down tight." Alvin then got up and walked towards the entrance. "I'll check around front."

"I'll go with you." Carlos said as he followed his ally.

The other members of the group stayed behind. Nick was antsy and looked around with his hunting rifle at the ready as Rebecca and Sarah sat down, exhausted by the day's walk. Luke looked down the mountain side to see if there were any walkers coming towards the group as Clementine and Keith looked down the mountain to see the surrounding forests. "Well the climb wasn't the best, but you can't deny that view." Keith said. He then frowned and said, "You must be freezing with just that thing on." He indicated to her long-sleeve striped shirt that was underneath the t-shirt that she wore this last summer.

Clementine shrugged and said, "I am, a little."

"You should take my hooded sweater." Keith suggested.

Clementine shook her head and said, "No, you're going to need it. All you have on underneath is a t-shirt." Keith frowned as he realized that she was right. "But thanks anyway." Clementine said to the boy with a smile.

Keith smiled back as Luke approached the two and said, "Well it'd be good to know if anybody is back there following us." Luke said. "Could probably get a better view from up top." He gestured to the lift and then looked to Clementine and Keith and continued, "You'd have an easier time getting up there. Feel like taking a look?" Luke continued as both children looked at each other considering their options. "It would be like climbing up a tree house, just a very tall tree house."

Keith sighed and said, "This is going to suck." He then went up to the lift as Clementine and Luke followed him.

"I have the binoculars. I should go up there." Clementine said.

Keith smiled at her and said, "Okay, well, I'll catch you if you fall."

"That's real encouraging." Clementine joked.

"Why wouldn't it be? I caught you that time when you fainted from exhaustion." Keith said. Clementine shot a questioning glance at Keith and he continued, "It was when we first met Luke and Pete. I caught you before you hit the ground."

Clementine sent an appreciative glance to the boy. She then went to climb up the lift until Keith said, "Hey wait." She stopped and looked to the boy. He smiled to her and kissed her on the cheek. She immediately blushed and caressed her cheek. "That's for good luck." Keith said. Clementine smiled and nodded to the boy and she started to climb up to the lift.

Meanwhile, Luke stared at Keith wide eyed and rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. He was worried that Keith and Clementine were getting too close too fast. The silence at the foot of the lift was uncomfortable for the two survivors until Keith yelled, "There you go! You're almost there!"

Clementine finally made it to the top and yelled, "Made it!" A crow flew off from the lift, startled by the young girl's shout. Clementine reached the edge of the lift and searched through her backpack until she finally pulled out her binoculars.

She looked through them as Luke yelled, "Do you see anything?"

Clementine searched through much of the landscape, which was mostly trees, until she saw the bridge that the group passed earlier that day. However, there was something out of place. It looked like there were flashlights shining in an unorganized pattern "Wait!" Clementine yelled back. "I think I see something."

"What do you see?" Luke asked.

"I think I see lights." Clementine explained. Suddenly both Luke and Keith heard inaudible yelling that came from the walkway. Luke looked over to see his group arguing with another group, and he ran over to investigate, leaving Keith at the base of the lift as Clementine yelled, "Wait there is another!"

"Clem, climb down. Something's happening." Keith exclaimed as he looked at the two groups. Clementine immediately climbed down the lift and she and Keith approached the feud.

"Listen, everyone. Just stay calm." Luke said.

"Who are you? Are you trying to rob us?" An Indian-American woman asked.

"Excuse me, honey, but do I look like a freaking thief?" Rebecca snapped. Clementine and Keith kept advancing further towards the center of the commotion as their group and this new group continued to argue.

"Everyone just stay calm." A plump man in a red sweater said.

"Hey man, you calm down." Alvin shot back.

"Sarah get behind me." Carlos exclaimed.

"Just tell us who you are." The plump man demanded.

"We're not here to rob anyone. Put the gun down man." Alvin pleaded.

"F*** that." An unknown man said. Clementine perked up when she heard the voice.

"You know-" Keith tried to ask but Clementine ignored him and wrestled through the remainder of the group members who cluttered the way to the new group.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Luke exclaimed as he rose his arms in surrender.

Clementine finally had a good look of the man and her eyes widened in shock. She thought he was dead, but he was there standing right in front of her. "Please just do as he says." The Indian-American woman begged.

The man that Clementine thought was dead was Kenny. He looked over to her and back to the group for a quick second not noticing who she was, but then his eyes widened and he looked back to her and he started to lower his hunting rifle and his mouth opened very wide in shock of seeing her. Clementine pushed past Nick and Luke and said, "K-Kenny."

"Wait, you know this guy?" Luke asked.

"Clementine…?" Kenny asked.

Clementine's eyes softened and she ran to Kenny hugging the man as he hugged her back. They released each other from the embrace and Kenny squatted down to look at her at eye level. He placed a hand on her shoulder comfortingly as the plump man in the red sweater stated, "I'd take that as a yes."

"These people with you?" Kenny asked. Clementine nodded her head and Kenny stood up. "We can talk inside." Kenny told the group in a friendly tone of voice.

"Great, I just started dinner." The plump man said

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Carlos asked.

"It's going to storm soon." The plump man said. "Please come in."

The plump man in the red sweater led the way as Kenny and Clementine shot overjoyed glances at each other. The plump man opened the door for Kenny and Clementine as they entered. Clementine looked around the ski lodge with wonder and amazement. It had electricity as shown by the decorations on the Christmas tree and lights on the columns. The plump man joined alongside Kenny and Clementine and explained, "Kenny and Sarita have been staying with us for several weeks. Used to be a ski lodge obviously, so there is plenty of food." He continued as he walked up the stairs, "And believe it or not, we still get power from that wind turbine out front. We tend to keep the lights off at night to avoid drawing attention."

Kenny turned around to Clementine and began mock the man with a nagging hand gesture as the man continued, "But after we found this stuff in storage, we couldn't resist making an exception." Clementine giggled at Kenny's antics as Walter turned around. "Is something funny?"

"Oh nothing Walt." Kenny replied and walked up the stairs to introduce his friend to Clementine. "Walter here is one smart son of a bitch. He also makes a good can of beans." Kenny finished as he patted Walter on the back.

"Well why don't you two catch up while I get dinner started?" Walter suggested. Suddenly the cabin members entered the ski lodge, with the exception of Carlos and Sarah who were talking with the Indian-American woman outside. They all share Clementine's wonder and amazement to see the place had electricity. Walter interrupted their thoughts as he said, "Please, make yourselves at home. You can leave your things over there." He then gestured to the bench near the door. The group looked over but no one made a move to place their weapons or equipment on the bench.

"The hell we will." Rebecca shot back.

"Yeah, I'm holding onto my rifle, thanks." Nick said.

"You are our guests here, there's no need to worry." Walter assured them. However, no one still made a move to place their weapons on the bench.

Keith looked up to Clementine who smiled and nodded to the boy. He smiled back and he went over to the bench. "Hey Boy Wonder, what are you doing?" Nick asked as Keith laid down his slingshot on the bench.

"If Clem knows and trusts these people, then I know I can trust them." Keith replied as he took off his backpack and looked around it until he pulled out an 8 mm handgun. He unloaded the gun and took out the magazine to make sure the gun could not be fired.

The adults looked at him with wide eyes and Luke asked, "You had a gun with you this whole time."

"Yup." Keith replied. "I had one just in case, but I never needed it." Keith then pulled out his pocket knife and placed it near his slingshot and unloaded gun, while his backpack rested underneath his weapons. Keith then made a gesture for the adults in his group to follow. They hesitated until Luke sighed and he went over to the bench and placed his machete on the bench.

The rest of the adults followed as Sarah, Carlos and the Indian-American woman, Sarita, came in. "Dad look a Christmas tree!" Sarah exclaimed as she tried to head for it.

Carlos stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder and said, "Not now, Sweetie."

"Isn't it great? We found it all in storage." Sarita stated.

"It's amazing." Sarah said.

Kenny smiled at the young girl and descended from the stairs. He placed his hunting rifle on the bench and nodded towards Luke who smiled and nodded back. Sarita smiled and said, "Good. Will you all please follow me? I'll show you where you can sleep." From there she gave a tour to Nick, Sarah, Luke, Alvin, Rebecca, Keith, and Carlos. Walter went back to the kitchen and tried to get something made for the new additions as Kenny and Clementine headed for the living room where a nice, warm fire was. They both sat across from each other as Kenny looked to Clementine with a smile. "Still wearing this dirty old thing." Kenny said as tapped the brim of Clementine's hat. "You know, I half expected Lee to walk up with you. You two were like two peas in a pod." Kenny then jumped back seeing Clementine look down sadly. "Ah, shit. I didn't mean… it's just hard to not think about him."

"He saved me." Clementine said somewhat sadly.

"I knew it." Kenny said proudly. "I knew he would. That guy had a fire in him, sure as shit." Kenny then looked down sadly remembering everything Lee did for him as a friend. "Hell… he was one hell of a guy. When my son… well he helped me through that. He took care of him… when I couldn't. I'll never forget that." Kenny finished his last sentence with more optimism.

"So where'd you end up?" Kenny asked.

"I was with Christa and Omid for a while… but then Omid…" Clementine tried to say but instead she choked up. She inhaled and exhaled slowly to avoid crying and continued, "I was with Christa for a while, but it didn't last…" She then sighed and looked to Kenny and smiled, "Then this boy found me and saved my life."

"Well then I'm sorry that you lost Omid and Christa but I'm thankful for that boy you mentioned." Kenny stated. "I'm sorry, darling. I wish I could have found you sooner."

"Where have you been?" Clementine asked curiously.

"Oh hell, everywhere, after Savannah." Kenny replied.

"How did you get out of there?" Clementine asked.

Kenny scoffed and said, "For some reason, I went back to try and save that shit bird, Ben. Then it turned into a damn cluster." Kenny looked off toward the fire distantly by the memory of struggling through several walkers and then turned back to Clementine, "Couldn't help the kid, but I made it out. Long story short, I got lucky, real lucky. Spent a long time alone after that. It uh…" Kenny then spaced out. He obviously went through some nightmare after Savannah, just like Clementine. "And then I met Sarita, thank goodness. Gosh, it's great to have you back!" Kenny exclaimed.

The said woman approached the two and asked, "You two catching up?"

"Clem, this is my girl, Sarita. Ain't she beautiful?" Kenny asked.

Sarita rolled her eyes at the antics of her boyfriend and said, "It's nice to meet you Clementine."

Walter then walked back into the living room after letting the pot boil in the makeshift kitchen and Kenny asked, "Hey Walt, where's Matthew? He still out there rootin around?"

"Of course he is." Walter replied. "Well I'll start dinner." Walter said and continued his walk to the makeshift kitchen.

The cabin group descended the stairs and Sarita approached them. "Carlos, right? Won't mind if I steal your daughter for a secret mission?"

Sarah perked up and looked to Carlos. "Stay inside, Sweetie." Carlos replied. The two then walked over to the Christmas tree and started to decorate it.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, actually, there's still a few supplies outside. We need to bring them in before the storm hits." Kenny replied. "Mind giving me a hand with that?"

"Sure." Luke said and he and Nick headed for the door.

"Clem, why don't you help Walt with dinner?" Kenny asked. However, it was more of a command as Kenny walked away.

Keith joined Clementine as they walked towards Walter who was cooking something. As they walked, Clementine smiled to the young boy and pecked his cheek with a kiss. Keith mirrored Clementine's reaction outside as he blushed and caressed his cheek. "What was that?" Keith asked.

"Oh, just a little thank you for outside." Clementine said playfully.

"Hey, I meant it. It was for good luck." Keith replied as they reached Walter.

He was stirring a concoction of some kind. The smell was unfamiliar to both children. He looked up and asked, "Hey Clementine, settling in well enough?"

"Yeah." Clementine said with a smile.

"Excellent." Walter replied. "And how about you… erm Boy Wonder?"

Keith chuckled and said, "Doing well. My name's Keith."

"Very good, nice to meet you." Walter said. "Want to help me prepare a little dinner?"

Clementine and Keith looked down into the large mixing pot and they looked at each other with a confused look. "What is it?" Clementine asked.

"Le Walter surprise. An autumnal legume salad with a peach roux." Walter replied.

"Okay, you've officially lost me." Keith replied. "And I thought Anatomy was tough to learn."

Walter chuckled and said, "It's peaches and beans. It's all we have." Walter then looked to the can and said, "Huh, striking resemblance." He then showed the can to Clementine. Clementine and Keith's eyes widened in shock at the can as Walter laid it back down. "Anyway, I can take it from here." Walter said as he lift the large mixing pot and left the makeshift kitchen.

Clementine looked to Keith and said, "They have the same food as that man in the station house had. There's one guys who is with them but isn't here. His name is Matthew."

Keith nodded and said, "So I heard, Sarita talked about him and Walter a little bit, but she didn't go into enough detail. We'll have to keep looking around to find out who that man on the bridge was. Let's just hope it wasn't Matthew."

Clementine nodded and the two started to walk around.

* * *

"I haven't seen one of these since…" Clementine stated as she looked up at the tree as Sarah and Sarita continued to decorate it.

Keith looked up at the tree and said, "Yeah… it feels like it has been forever…"

"Here Clem and… I'm sorry I never got your name." Sarita said as she gave Clementine and Keith an ornament to hang on the tree.

"It's Keith." Keith replied as he hung his ornament in an unoccupied space on the tree. Clementine followed having her ornament near Keith's.

"Well it's nice to meet you Keith." Sarita said and she looked to Clementine and said, "You knew Kenny from before. It must be incredible to see him again. When I met him… well he's so different now."

"So, how'd you meet Kenny?" Clementine asked.

"I found him holed up in an old restaurant, if you can believe it." Sarita replied.

"Holed up?" Clementine asked.

"You should have seen his beard then." Sarita chuckled. "Perfect." Sarita commented as she took a couple of steps back to examine her and Sarah's work. "Now all we need is the topper."

"We always put an angel on top of our tree." Sarah said.

"You know? My family and I never really celebrated Christmas, but we still liked the decorations." Sarita said.

Clementine then eyed the stairs and then walked towards them. Keith quickly followed her as Alvin, Rebecca, and Carlos were in the middle of an argument about Carver. "It's crazy. Why would they follow us this far?" Rebecca asked.

"We can't be sure." Carlos said. Clementine and Keith approached the adults but they continued to be wrapped up with the idea of Carver still following them.

"It has been a week man. We got to be out of the woods." Alvin remarked.

"We can't be sure." Carlos repeated. "They might be tracking us."

"Tracking? Who do you think they are, ninjas?" Alvin inquired as he panicked from the thought of Carver's men hunting them down.

"Well, they didn't pick up on my trail, so there's a possibility that we've lost them." Keith said.

"Perhaps." Carlos said doubtfully as he crossed his arms.

Rebecca noticed Clementine and said, "Clem, Luke said that you saw some people in the valley."

"People? All the way down there? How?" Alvin inquired.

"She has binoculars, genius." Rebecca mocked.

"I saw lights." Clementine said.

"Which way did they go?" Rebecca asked.

"Back into the woods." Clementine replied. Keith looked down sadly. He knew that the chase was going to come to an end soon and it may not end for the better.

The three adults pondered on the next move until Carlos spoke up again, "We can't take any chances. We leave at dawn."

"But we're safe here for tonight, right?" Rebecca asked.

Keith shook his head and looked to the woman. "We may not be. Maybe it's better if we move on."

"Right now?" Rebecca asked.

"Keith, come on, Rebecca is exhausted. She needs to rest." Alvin said.

"I understand, Alvin, but… my dad is persistent and he doesn't give up. He will stop at nothing to get Rebecca's baby and to kill me, so he has a clean past and a bright future." Keith replied as he looked down sadly.

"Clementine, you talked to that man, Kenny, right? What did he say? Is he and this group hiding something?" Carlos asked.

"They did say something about another man. I think his name is Matthew." Clementine said as she clutched her right arm.

"That doesn't seem relevant, Clementine." Carlos said.

"Look, I don't care what that guy said." Alvin said. "We're staying here for tonight."

"Just talk to the rest of the group. They trust you. See what you can find out." Carlos said to Clementine. "I'm going to go find Luke." Carlos then headed to the stairs and left the three.

Suddenly Rebecca started to rub her head and said, "Honey, I don't feel good."

Alvin got down to be eye level with Rebecca and asked, "Bec, what's wrong?"

"I just need something to drink." Rebecca replied.

"I'm on it. I'll be right back." Alvin said and he got up and went to the stairs.

Keith looked over to a small box near the stairs and looked inside of it. There were three ornaments for the tree, two of which were toppers: an angel and a star. "Hey Clem. I found our angel." Keith said. He then gave it to Clementine. She walked over to the tree and placed the topper on it.

Sarah looked up and smiled, "She looks so cool."

Sarita finished putting more ornaments on the tree and looked up. "Beautiful." Sarita remarked. "I used to love this time of year." Sarita then turned to Sarah and said, "You know now that your friends are here, this place is starting to feel like a real home."

Clementine looked over to Keith and the two smiled at each other. They descended from the stairs as Sarita said, "Matthew and Walter are amazing people. Honestly, it's dangerous to be this kind but they can't help it." Sarita then looked to Keith and Clementine and said, "Wait until you meet Matthew. He's a real character."

"When is Matthew coming back?" Keith asked.

He should be coming back soon." Sarita replied. She then looked over to Kenny who was helping get supplies into the ski lodge before the storm hits and back to Clementine. "Clem, I wanted to ask you… Does Kenny seem different to you? I don't know him before and well… I'm curious." Sarita explained.

"I haven't quite noticed." Clementine replied.

Sarita looked back over to Kenny with a questioning stare until Clementine continued, "Kenny has been through a lot, but he always has his heart in the right place."

Sarita looked back to Clementine and smiled. "Thank you Clementine."

"Well, you four have been busy." Kenny said as he approached the decorated Christmas tree.

"Kenny!" Sarita exclaimed happily. "Isn't it great?"

"It certainly is. Good job." Kenny remarked. Kenny then noticed Sarita going for some of the boxes and said, "I got it hon." Kenny said as he reached for the box.

"I think I can manage it, Kenny." Sarita said.

"I said I got it!" Kenny snapped and he took the boxes out of Sarita's grip and left the four.

"Did he always used to snap like that?" Keith whispered to Clementine.

Clementine shook her head and said, "No that's new. Maybe Kenny has changed."

"Kenny likes to play the gentleman, but let me tell you. When I first saw him, he couldn't lift a finger." Sarita said. Sarita momentarily looked down with a frown but immediately refocused with a smile and asked, "Why don't you see if your friends are ready for dinner, Clementine?"

Clementine nodded and she and Keith went upstairs. They walked up to Rebecca who continued to rub her sore head. "Are you okay?" Clementine asked as she gripped her right arm again.

Rebecca looked up and said, "Just got a little dizzy." Rebecca then looked down sadly and said, "I can't even take care of myself. How am I supposed to raise a child? I mean how can anyone?"

"It's possible." Keith said. "Think about it, Clem and I are still alive and we were all alone out there for a while. This baby is going to have the love and support of so many strong and caring survivors, on top of you and Alvin."

Rebecca smiled to the boy and said, "I think you're right. I can't believe there was a time where I didn't trust you Keith; I'm sorry for that."

"Don't be, you had every right to feel distrusting towards me." Keith said. "Besides, that's water under the bridge."

"I know it's going to be hard but I already feel a little less lonely, because no matter what happens, I'll meet someone new." Rebecca said happily. She then rubbed her belly and said, "She's kicking. You want to feel?" Rebecca then turned to look down on her stomach and said, "That food smells good, huh?"

"Can I?" Clementine asked. Rebecca nodded and brought her hands back as Clementine crouched down and placed her ear on Rebecca's stomach. She felt a bump and smiled as she looked back up to Rebecca.

"She's going to be a runner." Rebecca remarked happily. She then frowned and said, "It's not his."

Keith's and Clementine's eyes widened and Clementine asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

"I don't know." Rebecca replied. "I trust you for some reason. You look like you've had to keep some secrets before" Rebecca then placed a hand on her belly and continued, "If he finds out that it isn't his, he'll kill me. I don't know what to do. I can't believe I'm asking a little girl and boy for advice."

"He won't kill you." Keith said. "Even if that baby has some genetics from my side of the family, Alvin will still love him or her, because he loves you."

Rebecca thought of the child's words until she looked up to see Alvin with a glass of water and jumped. "There's my man." Rebecca exclaimed happily.

"You alright, baby?" Alvin asked.

"I'm fine, you big dope." Rebecca said as Alvin approached her.

Clementine got out of the way and walked over to join Keith as Alvin remarked, "We just need to get some food in you." He then turned around and said, "Thanks for staying with her, you two."

Clementine and Keith smiled and nodded as Walter could be heard from downstairs. "Well everyone dinner is served. Come on, let's eat." The sweet aroma of the peaches and beans intensified as the two walked down the stairs.

Clementine looked back to Keith and said, "That was very nice of you to tell Rebecca that."

"I only told her the truth." Keith said.

"Still it really helped her to hear that kind of encouragement." Clementine said.

Keith smiled to her and said, "I want to talk to you when we're done eating."

"Okay." Clementine said.

The two continued to walk down the stairs and looked on to see the cabin members sitting at the left table and ski lodge survivors sitting at the one on the right. Nick and Luke waved to Keith and Clementine come over at their table but then Kenny exclaimed, "Over here Clem."

The two children looked back and forth between the two tables and Clementine looked to Keith. "Which one should we sit at?"

"You choose, I'm comfortable with either." Keith replied. Clementine looked to both tables again before finally deciding to go over and sit with Kenny and his group. Keith tagged along and they both sat next to each other.

**...To be continued**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I want to thank everyone who has reviewed this story so far. Special thanks going to ZeroBullet0 and MagixBen1124. You've all been awesome.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Luke shot a saddened look to Clementine for choosing the other table as Nick looked down at his food being equally sad that Keith chose a table full of stranger over his table.

Walter gave both children a bowl as Kenny looked to the boy. "Now hold on, kid. I don't exactly know who you are. Why don't you go to the other table with the rest of your group? All I wanted to see was Clem."

Keith was slightly surprised by the man's bitter words, but he stood his ground and said, "I'm with Clementine."

"Keith is the boy who saved my life, Kenny." Clementine explained.

"Oh okay, that changes things. Sorry about that." Kenny said as he started to relax. He then looked to the cabin survivors and said, "So Clem, we were just talking. What's the deal with the kid? What's his name… Luke? He in charge? You trust him?"

"Kenny please." Sarita pleaded for the man to calm down.

"Sarita, we don't know these folks." Kenny said.

"They seem nice." Sarita commented.

"Yeah, well gators seem nice too until they rip your damn arm off." Kenny said.

"Luke's a good guy." Clementine replied. "I trust him."

"Well alright." Kenny said as he looked to the group with a nicer stare. "That guy, Big Al? He said they were on the run."

"Some people are after them." Clementine said.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that no more." Kenny said. "They'll go tomorrow and you can stay here."

"Absolutely." Sarita agreed. "Honey, you stay here as long as you want."

"I have to admit; it would be nice to have a home again." Keith said.

Kenny looked to the boy questioningly and then sent a glare. "That offer only applies to Clementine. You're going on the road with them." Both children looked wide-eyed at Kenny surprised by what he said as he continued, "Now look, I'm very appreciative that you saved Clementine, but I don't know who the heck you are and I don't know if it's safe to trust you."

"I was the first to leave my weapons and equipment at the door. What else do you want from me?" Keith inquired.

"I'm not staying if Keith is forced to leave." Clementine said.

"Oh yes you are." Kenny spat. He then turned to Keith and said, "I have my reasons for you to leave."

"Your friends can stay too, Clementine." Sarita said.

"The hell they can." Kenny snapped.

"Honey." Sarita said in a pleading tone.

Suddenly, Walter and Sarita got up as they finished their meals and Luke and Nick went over to the table that Kenny, Keith, and Clementine were at. Luke looked to Clementine with a saddened look for her decision of choosing to sit with Kenny instead of him and his group. In response, she looked down sadly.

"I hope you enjoy the food." Kenny said, ruining the tense atmosphere.

"Oh yeah…" Luke said somewhat speechless. "It's great. Thank you."

"It's peaches and beans." Kenny explained. "Great for nutrition. Not too great on the way out though." Kenny then busted up laughing at his own joke. Keith stifled a chuckle as everyone else looked to Kenny disgusted by the inappropriate joke.

Clementine looked to Keith as he stopped chuckling and said, "Sorry, I'm a boy. We usually get a good kick out of that."

Clementine rolled her eyes in response as Kenny continued, "So it's Luke and Nick? Luke and Nick, you two seemed to be quite the match."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nick inquired.

"I'm just saying you two look like good friends, that's all." Kenny replied calmly.

"So what was your plan here? Hold out for the winter?" Luke asked.

"Actually, we were thinking of moving on. Somewhere up north." Kenny said. He then looked to Clementine and asked, "Ever heard of a place called Wellington?"

Clementine perked up at the mention of the alleged safe zone that she and Christa were heading to. However, Luke, Nick, and Keith were confused by the mentioning of the safe zone.

"Wellington? What is that?" Luke asked.

"A place." Kenny said bluntly.

"What kind of place?" Luke inquired.

"Yeah, I heard of it." Clementine said. "Christa and I were heading up that way."

Kenny smiled towards Clementine and continued, "It's supposed to be a big camp up near Michigan."

"Michigan?" Nick inquired.

"You have a hearing problem, kid?" Kenny snapped. "Yeah, Michigan. Think about it: fresh water, lots of land, and cold ass winters so that the walkers get slow."

"Sounds like a lot of bullshit." Nick shot back.

Kenny jumped at the man's arrogance and said, "Listen, Vanilla Ice, I don't know what your deal is but you are more than welcome to take off in the morning."

"Well that sounds just fine by me." Nick snapped. Luke shot a glare towards Kenny finding his impatience and arrogance to be unnecessary.

"What's the deal with these guys, Clem?" Kenny asked Clementine.

"Hey, f*** you buddy." Nick snapped.

"Please don't fight." Clementine said.

Both men immediately stopped their minor squabble by the child's request as Walter walked up to the table. "Gentlemen, please, there is no need for this. We've all had a long day." Walter said. "Now please eat."

Kenny was still angry and looked to Clementine and said, "Pass me that can, Duck." Clementine jumped in surprise by the fact that Kenny called her by his late son's name. Upon realizing his mistake, Kenny jumped. He was surprised that he even said that. However, Luke and Nick were confused as they did not know who Duck was.

"Duck, who's Duck?" Luke asked. Kenny didn't reply as he looked down sadly.

"Leave him alone, Luke." Clementine warned. In turn, Luke nodded understandingly.

"Hey Clem, I still need to talk to you about something." Keith said. "Can we talk alone?"

"Yeah." Clementine said with a nod. The two children left the table as Clementine looked over to Kenny with a sad look. He was obviously still fighting the horrible memories of losing his family.

* * *

The two were at the top of the stairs and Keith looked around to make sure no one was there. "I'm sorry about that back there. There was a lot of tension at that table, and what I have to say is really important."

"It's fine. Now, what's going on?" Clementine asked with a sweet and kind voice. She always had a sweet voice but she was noticeably chipper around Keith. Her voice was accompanied by a wonderful smile which was something Keith had never seen her do.

Keith smiled and he took the young girl's hands and said, "I'm not good with words, so I'll just say it. Clementine, when we were on our own, I thought of you as a good ally and friend. You're cheerful, kind, beautiful, and very caring. But now, I see something else when I'm with you. I see you more than a friend. Clementine, I love you, and I want us to become girlfriend and boyfriend." Keith's checks grew red from admitting his crush on the girl had expanded into something that many people didn't think of at his age.

Clementine's cheeks were also red and she said, "I-I love you too, Keith. I-I didn't know if I would ever find someone who is fun, caring, and loving, but here you are." Tears started to flow down from her eyes and Keith proceeded to hug her. She hugged back tightly as she shed tears of joy for the first time in a couple of years.

After several minutes of the two hugging, they looked at each other and got closer until finally their lips touched. The kiss between the two was soft and loving. For a split second, the world around them stopped and they achieved a peaceful moment in a doomed world. They breathed their love into each other in that kiss. That kiss; hard, but soft; fiery but cool.

The moment ended as they separated from the kiss. Both blushed and looked to each other as they huffed to catch their breath.

"I love you." Clementine said.

"I love you, too." Keith said. They then instinctively joined hands and started for the stairs until Keith stopped. Clementine looked behind to see him and he said, "There's one thing I really need you to do."

"I'll do anything for you." Clementine said.

"Are you saved?" Keith asked. "Are you a Christian? I know that in a situation like ours that one's faith can shatter, but…"

Clementine stopped Keith by putting two fingers on his mouth and said, "I am a Christian. My mom, dad, and my former guardian, Lee, were all Christians."

Keith smiled and Clementine removed her fingers to allow the boy to talk. "I'm glad that there are still people out there who have not lost faith in Christianity. Love is a rare commodity nowadays, but I know that I'm loved by Jesus Christ." Clementine smiled and nodded in response. Keith smiled and reached for his backpack but it wasn't there. "Oh nuts." Keith said. "My Bible is in my backpack. I need to go get it. I always read something from the book of John before bed."

"I didn't know you had a Bible." Clementine pointed out.

"Yeah, how about I read you some of John real quick before we both hit the hay?" Keith suggested.

"I'd like that." Clementine replied. Keith smiled and he headed downstairs.

Keith walked over to the lobby until he heard Luke's voice. "Hey Keith." Keith jumped slightly and looked over to Luke who was behind a column. "Hey, don't freak out." Luke said to calm the boy. Keith approached Luke as Luke walked out from behind the column, "Hey listen, I got to tell you something. That guy on the bridge was Walter's friend." Luke then pulled out a photo of the man that was shot by Nick and Walter standing side-by-side and gave it to Keith to look at. "You see, I knew something was off, so I asked Sarita about their friend. And now they're all worried that he's not back yet."

Keith looked down sadly and sighed, "What are we going to do?" Keith asked.

"I don't think Walter knows yet, so we're going to have to keep this quiet. I mean who knows what the hell he'd do if he found out." Luke said.

"No, that's a bad idea." Keith said. "We have to tell him what happened. He may be angry and hurt, but that will be a far cry from him finding out while we knew the whole time and never told him."

"Keith, I know that you always want to do the right thing, but you got to think of our situation." Luke said. "Rebecca is very close to having her child and I don't think Sarah and Clem have another day's walk left in them." Luke sighed and said, "Now then do you still have that knife? Because if it was Matthew's, and Walter sees it, he's going to put two and two together."

"I gave it to Clem." Keith replied. "I think it's in her backpack with the other stuff."

"Well, okay, go get rid of it and I'll try to run interference with Walter, and oh… keep an eye out for Nick." Luke said.

"I'm right here." Nick said as he approached the two. "What's up?"

"Oh, uh… nothing man, just wanted to see if you were okay." Luke said.

"Hey man, I'm fine." Nick said. He then ruffled Keith's hair and continued, "I almost got to be since this one is failing in his duties to keep the group motivated."

Keith pushed Nick's hand away and said, "I'm not a dog, you know?"

"Yeah, well you almost look like one with all this shaggy hair." Nick said.

"So yeah, you good?" Luke asked Nick.

Nick grew serious and his smirk disappeared. "You know man, I am really regretful that I shot that guy. If I knew that he didn't mean us any harm, I would have never raised my gun at him."

Keith looked down sadly and said, "There is something you need to know."

Luke shook his head at Keith as an indication that showing Nick the photo would be a bad idea. "Hey if there's something going on, I want to know." Nick said.

"No, Nick just go off to bed." Luke insisted.

"So what? You don't trust me now?" Nick asked somewhat sadly.

Keith looked down and handed the picture frame of Matthew and Walter to Nick. Nick took a look of the photo and his eyes widened in horror. "No, shit! Dammit!" Nick exclaimed.

"Shh… Nick shut the f*** up man." Luke exclaimed.

"I-I can't man. I can't." Nick said as he continued to panic.

"Do not freaking blow it, Nick." Luke said coldly.

"Blow it?" Nick inquired. "It's over. I have to tell him, Luke."

"WHAT, NO! You can't Nick! Are freaking nuts?" Luke asked.

"I have to. I can't live with that on me." Nick said.

"I agree. It's the right thing to do." Keith said.

"Nick I'm warning you. This is suicide." Luke said.

"I'll live with that." Nick said and he walked away to find Walter.

Luke sighed and said, "Keith, I need you to go do that thing I asked you to do, alright?"

Keith nodded in response and he walked towards the stairs to retrieve the survival knife that he gave to Clementine, earlier that day. He reached the bottom of the stairs and grabbed Clementine's backpack. He rummaged through it, but couldn't find Matthew's survival knife. "Well where is it?" Keith pondered. He looked over to the entrance and saw Walter standing outside, looking over something that was in his hand.

Keith walked outside somewhat frightened by the way Walter was acting. Once again, the atmosphere did little to ease the tenseness of the situation. The wind's howl was almost as horrible as a walker's. Additionally, the wind caused the turbine to pick up speed. Keith now could see what Walter had in his hands. It was Matthew's knife!

"Walter…?" Keith asked concerned for the kind man.

"I always liked this knife." Walter stated as he smoked a cigarette. He then unsheathed the blade and said, "I gave it to Matthew when all of this started. I know he's dead. Who did it? Was it that kid? What's his name… uh, Nick? Heard him talking earlier about shooting a man." Walter paused and said, "I could see it… I could see it on his face! I wasn't sure then… but now… I know what happened."

"It was us." Keith admitted sadly. "It was our fault."

"Holy shit…" Walter said sadly. "I don't feel good."

Keith looked sympathetically to Walter and said, "You lost someone who you cared about. It's normal to feel that way. I felt the same way when my dad killed my mom…"

"Did Nick shoot Matthew?" Walter asked ignoring Keith's advice.

Keith looked down sadly and said, "Yes." In response to Keith's reply, Walter gripped the knife tighter.

He huffed out some smoke from the cigarette and turned to Keith. He dropped the cigarette and stomped on it and asked, "Is Nick a good man? Or is he like everyone else?"

"Nick's a good guy." Keith replied. "He… He's just going through a rough time…" Keith paused for a second and then continued, "He saved my life." Walter looked back to the wind turbine as the door creaked open and Nick joined alongside Keith.

"He was always going out there alone." Walter explained. "I told him something like this would happen. But he wouldn't listen. No Matt always knew best."

"Walter…" Nick said as he approached with one hand extended to the man. "I'm so sorry for what happened to Matthew. H…H-He had a gun and I was afraid that he was going to hurt my friends. I'm sorry man, if I would have known, I would have never aimed my gun at him. I'm so sorry."

Walter looked to Nick tearfully and asked, "Do you have any idea what you have done to me? Do you have any idea?"

"I-I'm sorry, Walter. I really am." Nick said.

"Nick is a good guy, Walter." Keith added. "He could have cared less for me and Clem, but he cares about us. Please, Walter, please forgive him."

Walter looked down to the knife and examined it before tossing it aside.

Suddenly, the wind picked up and the turbine started to spin out of control. The noise caused by the turbine was quite loud which caused the three on the front of the ski lodge to look up at it. Everyone, except for Rebecca, Sarah, and Alvin walked outside and observed the turbine.

"Walt, what's going on?" Kenny asked. However, Walter didn't respond and instead looked down sadly as he continued to mourn the loss of Matthew. The wind picked up even more and Kenny looked over from the front of the ski lodge and said, "The storm's got it spinnin outta control. That sounds gonna draw walkers. We gotta shut it down now!"

Carlos turned to Nick and said, "Nick help me carry the guns." Nick nodded and the two went inside to retrieve any firearms that were in the ski lodge.

"Guns?" Sarita inquired.

Meanwhile Clementine looked to Walter worriedly and then to Keith. "Is Walter okay? What's going on?"

"Our suspicions were confirmed." Keith stated. "That man on the bridge was Matthew."

Clementine shuddered upon receiving the bad news and looked to Walter sympathetically. "Aw… poor guy."

Carlos and Nick returned with several guns in hand. Both Clementine and Keith accepted handguns as Sarita accepted a hunting rifle. "That damn thing's a dinner bell!" Kenny bellowed and ran towards the wind turbine. Everyone followed him to the turbine as the wind continued to pick up speed.

* * *

Just as Kenny reached the control box, there was a loud explosion nearby. Everyone looked to where the sound of the explosion came from and Luke asked, "The hell was that?"

Keith looked over towards the ski lodge and saw all of the light shut off. "Must have been the transformer." Keith said

"Dammit!" Kenny replied. "I gotta check it." Kenny then looked over his shoulder towards the group and said, "I could use a hand."

"I'll go with you." Luke said.

"I'm going too." Sarita added.

"No! It's too dangerous!" Kenny said. He then looked to the rest of the group and said, "The rest of you get this thing shut down." He then ran towards the blown transformer which must have been in the forest. Luke followed him as the rest of the group looked at the control box. Sarita opened it and looked inside to see all the switches and fuses.

"Does anyone know how to do this?" Carlos asked. He then looked to Sarita who only shrugged, which indicated that she had no clue on how to shut down the machine. "Great." Carlos scoffed.

"I can do it." Clementine spoke up.

"Okay, we'll watch your back." Carlos said. "Nick scan the trees with me." Carlos then walked over and joined Nick, leaving Clementine to figure out the control box.

Clementine brought out her zippo lighter to use as a light to make the switches and fuse visible. She then looked around the box until she found a key. She grabbed the key and placed it in the main switch and pressed it in. With that done, the turbine started to slow down until it came to a complete stop.

Keith looked to Clementine and smiled, "Nice work. How'd you know to do that anyway?"

"Christa taught me. This isn't the first wind turbine that I have ever seen." Clementine commented.

"Something ain't right." Nick said as he continued to scan the tree line. The sound of gurgled growling and snarls filled the air and soon everyone could hear the volume and frequency of the growls and snarls increase. It was as if the wind turbine was being surrounded by walkers.

"We don't have much ammunition." Carlos said as he raised his gun.

"That's not good considering how many there are." Keith said as he followed suit and raised his gun.

"We got to get back to the lodge." Nick said. Suddenly, the growling intensified from behind the group and they turned to see walkers approaching them from the rear. "They're behind us!" Nick exclaimed. Carlos took aim with his handgun and shot a nearby walker. However, the walkers from behind proved to be persistent and continued towards the small group which was now Sarita, Nick, Carlos, Keith, and Clementine.

Sarita, Nick, and Carlos shot from behind as both Clementine and Keith watched on, waiting for the adults to come up with a plan. However, both went into action when they heard a walker approach them from behind. Keith quickly raised his gun and shot the walker dead with a bullet passing through its skull. It slumped to the ground but both children knew they were still surrounded.

"We have to go." Clementine said.

Keith nodded and looked up to see Nick. Nick fired at a couple of walkers but was backpedaling. "Nick's in trouble." Keith said.

"Well, come on, let's help him." Clementine said and the two ran over to a rock for cover. However, when they got to cover, Nick ran off as a herd got closer to him. The herd soon turned its focus on the two children and started to head for them.

Clementine and Keith raised their guns and started to shoot at the herd. One-by-one the herd's numbers began to decrease. Each shot fired by the children left another walker to slump on the ground.

"I missed this!" Keith shouted so he could be heard over the gunshots.

"Missed what?" Clementine shouted so that she could be heard.

"Using a gun." Keith said as he shot the last walker in the skull. "That's all of them." He then unloaded his gun and said, "Good thing too, I got two bullets left."

Clementine mirrored Keith's movements and checked her gun as well. "That's better than me, I got one bullet left."

"Somebody help me!" Nick exclaimed. The two rushed towards the scene where Nick was struggling with a walker.

"Nick!" Clementine exclaimed. Keith drew his gun and tried to aim, but the constant wrestling and the angle that he was at made it hard for him to make a precise shot. Clementine looked to Keith and said, "Come on Keith, you got shoot that walker."

"I can't get a good shot." Keith said. Suddenly a shot rang out and the walker jolted back and collapsed to the ground.

Nick huffed and looked over to Keith appreciatively, however, Keith merely frowned as he looked at his gun and shook his head. Keith didn't shoot the walker! Nick was confused until he noticed Clementine looking towards someone or something behind Nick. Nick followed her line of vision and saw Walter lowering his gun. Nick sent an appreciative stare to Walter to which Walter nodded.

Walter then ran off to help Carlos who was struggling with several walkers. Walter shot at a nearby walker as Carlos did the same. Meanwhile, Clementine, Keith, and Nick approached them. The two looked out to the large horde and Carlos exclaimed, "Clem, Keith… get inside, go!" The two complied and raced for the entrance of the ski lodge while Carlos and Walter shot at the remaining walkers.

They ran inside and went up the stairs to the main floor. "Clementine, Keith, are you both alright?" Rebecca asked upon seeing the two children. The two children ran up to Rebecca worriedly as automatic gunfire could be heard from outside.

"What the hell…?" Alvin asked. The five inside the ski lodge approached the large window to observe outside as more automatic gunfire erupted. Walkers fell left and right, and before any of the survivors knew it, the horde of walkers were dead. However, a threat far worse than the walkers came towards the group.

A man headed towards the group with three other people holding assault rifles. "Howdy folks." The man said with a smirk as his compatriots surrounded the group outside.

"Carver…" Rebecca said frighteningly.

"Dad…" Keith said equally frightened to see the man. Clementine looked to Keith worriedly as he stared at the man who he called, 'Dad.'

Meanwhile outside, Carver approached Carlos and asked, "Where's Rebecca?" In response, Carlos spat in his face. Carver wiped the saliva off of his face and said, "Nice to see you too." He then punched Carlos as hard as he could.

Carlos yelped upon impact, but regained his footing. "Dad!" Sarah exclaimed and she ran out of the ski lodge to his aid.

"Sarah!" Rebecca called after the teenage girl, but it was too late. Sarah ran to her father and hugged him. Carver smirked as he looked to the ski lodge.

"Inside." Carver commanded his group. They obliged and aimed their weapons towards the group to move. They obliged but then one of the members in Carver's group went up to Walter and he recognized her. It was the same woman that he helped out earlier and gave some supplies to. "It's you!" Walter exclaimed.

The woman, Bonnie, looked down sadly. She knew that she wasn't doing the right thing, but still said, "Keep moving."

With that, they all started to move for the ski lodge. Rebecca, Alvin, and Clementine started to move. They headed for the stairs to get to the second story, but Keith remained at the window and only huffed.

"Come on, Keith." Clementine pleaded.

"No, you go. I'll stay here and confront my dad." Keith said. "It was something that I should have done a long time ago." He got up from the window and headed towards the entrance.

However, Keith was stopped by Clementine who hugged him. "Please don't. I don't want you to die." She released him as he stopped resisting.

He turned around and kissed her on the lips. The kiss this time was quick and he separated from her. "I'm not going to use my gun to confront him, now go hide."

Clementine nodded and she ran for the stairs as the doors to the ski lodge opened up. Keith huffed and he headed for the stairs to block their way. He looked down to the group and saw his father leading the group. Upon seeing Keith, Carver smirked. Johnny and Bonnie took up the rear and made sure no one would escape. Nick, Carlos, Sarah, Sarita, and Walter were all held captive, and Troy had his gun aimed at Keith with an intense glare aimed at the boy.

…**To be continued.**

**A/N: Yes, now are you all satisfied that we have finally reached a shipping of Clementine and Keith. Call it whatever you would like. Keithentine, Cleith. I prefer the latter though. And as you can tell Keith is in a bit of trouble right now.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

"I got you now, motherf*****!" Troy seethed as he went towards the boy, his finger against the trigger.

Carver held out his arm and stopped Troy. Troy grumbled as Carver turned to Keith. He noticed the gun in Keith's hand and his smirk widened. "So what's your plan, boy?" Carver asked. "Are you going to shoot me, now? Show me what the world has taught you while you were out there."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Troy inquired. "If you die-"

"Then my community will have a future, and my boy will be its leader." Carver interrupted Troy. "Heck, shoot Troy too. Make him an example to everyone."

"The f*** you're going to let him shoot me!" Troy exclaimed.

Keith slowly approached Carver who was at the bottom of the steps. Meanwhile, Troy aimed his gun at Keith and said, "No dumb moves, f*****."

Keith looked up to his father whose smirk was starting to fade and he said, "Well, what are you waiting for? If you kill me, you save your friends right here." Carver gestured to the captured group members behind him.

Keith looked down sadly for a second and back to his father. The tension in the room was thickening as each second ticked by until Keith adjusted his grip on his gun and pointed the handle of his gun to Carver. "But I won't be able to save you." Keith said. Carver's smirk fell and he looked disappointed at the boy. "I came to you to surrender and to buy time. By now, Rebecca, Alvin, Luke, and Clementine are miles from here."

Carver huffed with a tang of anger and hissed, "Tie him up." Troy approached the boy and snatched the gun out of his hand.

Troy shot a glare which told Keith to turn around to which the boy obliged, and Troy started to tie him up. "A f****** waste of time." Troy hissed. He finished bounding Keith's wrist, and shoved the muzzle of his assault rifle in the back of Keith's head which made the boy lose his balance. Keith yelped as he hit the ground to which Troy exclaimed, "Get the f*** up asswipe!"

"Troy, enough man!" Johnny exclaimed.

"Yeah take it easy!" Bonnie added.

"You know what, shut the f*** up the both of you or I'll-" Troy went to raise his gun but stopped when Carver's revolver was pointed at his skull.

"Troy, I brought you along because you show results, but right now, you're more of a liability than help." Carver informed Troy. Carver then got closer to Troy and said, "Straighten up or I'm going to put a bullet in your useless head." Troy nodded and went up the stairs. Carver shook his head disapprovingly and looked to Bonnie and Johnny. "One of you two help my boy up and examine this place.

Johnny and Bonnie nodded and the group walked for the stairs. Bonnie helped Keith up, and she and Johnny led the captured members of the ski lodge to the wall adjacent to the Christmas tree. "Look at this place." Bonnie remarked as she observed the ski lodge.

"Bill's going to hate it." Johnny said. "Those windows over there are going to be a huge vulnerable spot."

"Yeah. Speaking of which could you go cover those windows?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah I got it." Johnny replied and he went to the window.

Meanwhile, Troy tied everyone else up as Carver looked around to see where Rebecca was. Finally he huffed and went to Keith. He cupped the boy's chin with his hand and asked, "Where's Rebecca?"

"I already told you, she's miles from here." Keith replied.

Carver shook his head and asked, "Why defend a woman who could give two shits of what will happen to you?"

"A better question is why do I still love the man that murdered my mom and step-dad? The answer is simple… because you're my dad, and nothing you can do or say will change that." Keith answered with a smile.

Carver raised an eyebrow at him and released the boy's chin. Carver got up and said, "Well, seeing that you won't answer me, I'll have to use a different approach." Caver approached Carlos, who was trying to comfort his frightened daughter.

He grabbed Carlos by the arm and proceeded to punch him with a hard hit to the stomach. Carlos wheezed as he fell to the ground. "Dad!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Listen, I'm only going to ask you one more time, where's Rebecca?" Carver said angrily as Carlos tried to regain his focus.

Carlos looked to Sarah and said, "Sarah look at me. It's going to be okay." Suddenly, Carlos was pulled back by his hair by Carver. Carver then grabbed one of his hands and pulled back a finger to where it was broken.

Carlos screamed in pain as Sarah looked on in horror. "No!" The frightened teenager exclaimed.

"Rebecca?" Carver shouted. "Rebecca, our baby deserves to be raised in a place of safety! I know you are out there, with Alvin, Luke and the girl!" Carver released Carlos from his grip and to which Carlos whined in pain from the newly broken digit. "This is real simple. If you want this over quick you all play nice and show your faces."

"Don't hurt my dad, please." Sarah pleaded tearfully.

Carver quickly turned his attention to Keith and said, "So what's it going to be boy? Are you going to tell me where they are, or do I need to take this to the next level?"

Keith looked down sadly indicating that he wasn't going to tell Carver anything. Carver chuckled and said, "Fine. Have it your way." He then grabbed Carlos's arm again and broke another finger. Carlos yelled in pain again which made everyone in the group cringe. Sarah's cries were getting louder in response to her father's cries in pain. Keith was feeling more guilty by the minute. He felt responsible for any pain that came upon the doctor who was suffering from his father's interrogation and Keith's own resistance to help his father find Rebecca, Alvin, and Clementine.

"DAD!" Sarah cried out. "Just stop! Don't hurt my dad please!"

"I'm afraid you are pleading with the wrong person." Carver replied. "If Keith tells me where Rebecca is, then I'll stop."

Sarah turned to Keith with pleading eyes. However, Keith could only look to Sarah sadly and shook his head. "Please Keith, you have to make him stop!" Sarah pleaded tearfully.

Having adjusted to the pain of his broken digits, Carlos glared at Carver and spat, "F*** you. Shoot him! Somebody just shoot hi-"

Carlos stopped mid-sentence as Carver pulled him back and placed a knife to his throat. Keith's eyes widened in horror and he looked to his father who had a smirk on his face. "So what's it going to be Keith Blake? Are you going to let Carlos die, or are you going to tell me what I want to know?"

Keith closed his eyes hard and sighed. He opened them and was about to respond when Rebecca shouted, "Bill stop!"

Carver looked up to the second floor and smirked. "Ah." He said and he threw Carlos to the ground. Carlos grunted as he hit the ground as Sarah cried over how close her father came to death.

Keith looked to the stairs and saw Alvin, Rebecca, and Clementine heading for the group. Rebecca went up to Carver and he caressed her cheek. "Are you alright?" Carver asked.

"F*** you, Bill." Rebecca snarled. But if anything, Carver only smirked as Rebecca went to join Alvin. Troy tied up Clementine and Alvin as Rebecca was permitted to stand due to being late in her pregnancy.

"Please, you don't want to do this." Walter pleaded with Bonnie as she looked over the newly captured people. "Just let these people go."

"Just shut up." Bonnie spat. It was evident in her voice and face that her guilt was starting to overwhelm her.

Carlos grunted in pain as he was forced to sit down next to Clementine. He looked to her and asked, "Clem, can you reach my hands?"

Clementine looked to his broken digits and shook her head. "Someone will see me. Just be patient; Luke and Kenny are still out there."

Suddenly a gunshot sounded and busted through the glass. The shot went straight through Johnny's skull, and he landed on the ground dead.

"Kenny…!" Sarita said somewhat worriedly.

"Johnny!" Keith exclaimed. Keith knew Johnny from Howe's. Unlike many who worked for Carver, Johnny was actually a decent and kind man. His death would definitely not do any good for the group.

Carver, Troy, and Bonnie quickly went into action. They raised their guns up towards the group to prevent them from getting excited. "Don't move!" Bonnie barked. The three then took cover behind a couple of columns and tried to see who the mystery marksmen could be. However, the storm and dark night made it impossible for them to make out anything. "I can't see them!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Watch them." Carver commanded and he went to Walter. He grabbed the man and placed him in a chokehold. Walter grunted as he tried to breathe as Carver kept pushing him forward. Carver then pushed him to the ground and fired point-blank into Walter's skull.

"No!" Carlos exclaimed. Sarah cried out in horror at the death of the educated man.

"Walter!" Clementine and Keith exclaimed in unison.

"That was for our man!" Carver shouted to the mystery sniper. "Now I didn't want to do that, but you ain't leaving me much choice. So here's what's going to happen. I'm going to march another one of your friends out here, and I'm going to put a bullet in the back of their head..." Sarah wailed even louder in response. She was afraid of being the next person for Carver to shoot. "...Or you can give up now, your choice."

Suddenly, another shot was fired which hit the column that Carver was hiding behind. Carver merely shrugged and went up to Alvin. "Hi, Alvin." Carver said as he dragged the man to his feet.

"You motherf*****." Alvin spat.

"Alvin!" Rebecca exclaimed as she tried to stop Carver, but she was stopped by Troy who aimed his gun at her. "Bill no! Tell him to stop!" Rebecca shouted. "Kenny stop!"

"Dad please, it doesn't have to be this way!" Keith pleaded.

Carver ignored both and kept his gun to Alvin's head. "You remember George, Alvin? You see, I do. I remember a guy who was your friend named George. I remember when you murdered him in cold blood. And why? Because you didn't like me?" Carver then stopped walking and continued as he kept his revolver at Alvin's temple. "You could have lodged a complaint. You could have… well you could have been civil about it."

"Bill no! We'll do whatever you want!" Rebecca pleaded.

Alvin turned to Rebecca and said, "I love you, Bec."

"BILL PLEASE!" Rebecca exclaimed.

"Kenny, Luke, don't shoot!" Clementine shouted.

Carver looked back to Clementine and said, "Ah." Realization hits him as he realized that using the girl would stop the mystery sniper, whether it would be Luke or Kenny. He threw Alvin to the ground and went up to the group. Keith's eyes widened as Carver approached Clementine.

Carver grabbed Clementine by her shirt collar and forced her up. She gasped at the grab momentarily until Carver picked her up and placed the barrel of his revolver to her temple. She whimpered while Caver kept a grip on her. Keith's jaw dropped momentarily as Carver explained to the mystery sniper. "We can do this all night. Is that what you want?"

"NO!" Keith shouted. "Dad, please, don't hurt her! I LOVE HER!" All of Keith's captured allies gasped upon hearing Keith's confession. However, they were not alone, as Bonnie also gasped and now looked on in horror as Carver kept his grip on the girl threatening to fire a bullet in her skull any second.

"Keith if there is anything that you should learn about life, it's that love is nothing more than a lie. Take your mother for instance, I loved her, but then I found Rebecca and we all know how that turned out." Carver explained as Clementine continued to whimper in Carver's grip.

"Dad, no!" Keith pleaded. "I'll do anything you want, just don't hurt her please!" It was now Keith's turn to cry desperately since there was almost nothing he could do. However Carver wasn't listen at this point. Finally, the doors to the ski lodge opened and everyone looked over to see Kenny raising his hands in surrender. Bonnie went over and tied him up, and shoved him to join the others. Keith sighed in relief, thankful that Kenny surrendered and didn't get Clementine killed.

Kenny took Walter's spot as he glared at Carver. "Where's Luke?" Carver inquired. No one answered as Carver continued to pace back and forth in front of the group. "Finally cut and run, huh? Why am I not surprised?" Carver broke his pace and approached Carlos. "I warned you." Carver said to the doctor. "I warned you not to follow him. And look where he's led you." Carver walked away from the group momentarily and looked towards the front door of the ski lodge. He was disappointed in Luke's efforts to keep the group safe. He turned back to the group with a satisfied smile. "But you're safe now." Carver said as he approached Rebecca. "We're going home now, as a family." Carver eyed the bulge of Rebecca stomach which was her baby. Alvin glared at Carver as Carlos looked down sadly, realizing that he was going back to the community that he hated. Sarah shared her father's sadness as she whimpered in fear of what would happen next. Clementine looked to Keith to which the boy shot a reassuring glance towards her.

"Alright. Round them up." Carver told Troy and Bonnie. "We're heading back to camp." With that, one-by-one, each person from the group was hoisted up and forced to leave.

Keith looked back to Clementine until Bonnie pushed the boy forward. "Move it, Keith!" Bonnie hissed. Bonnie's frustration wasn't aimed at the boy in the slightest, but instead, she was disappointed by her own actions. Keith reluctantly obliged to do as Bonnie asked of him and soon all that was left in the ski lodge was Walter's body.

**Several Hours Later**

It had been a long march out of the woods; but finally, the group was in the back of the truck. During the long trip back to Howe's, Sarah had to quickly use the restroom to which Clementine accompanied her. Keith warned Clementine that Troy was an evil and heartless man and to be careful around him. Keith, of course, was not wrong. But now, they were all back in the vehicle to continue their way to Howe's Hardware. Uncomfortable silence filled the area as everyone but Kenny had given up on escaping at this point. The van jerked from hitting a couple of bumps until Kenny spoke up, "Alright, we got to do something. Come on. Anyone got anything sharp? Anything? We need to get these bindings off." Kenny then looked to Clementine as he found that no one else was willing to assist him. "Hey! Clem, help me find something that will get these off. Anything sharp that can cut these…"

"And what good is that going to do?" Rebecca asked.

"What the hell is wrong with you people?" Kenny inquired. "We got to get out of here."

"Like what?" Clementine asked.

"What do you mean by like what?" Kenny snarled, his impatience and anxiety being directed at Clementine. "Something sharp! Anything that can help! A f****** I don't know. Something!"

"Okay, think stupid." Keith said bitterly. "Even if you manage to cut those bindings off, you're still stuck in here with us."

"I don't want to hear it from you, asshole! The way I see it, this is all your fault!" Kenny snapped. "If it wasn't for you, that asshole dad of yours would not have taken us." Keith glared at Kenny to which he ignored and continued, "We're in a f****** precarious position here. We got to do something about that!"

Settle down, Kenny." Carlos spoke up. "They took everything from us. We have to keep a level head."

"He's right." Rebecca said. "You don't know Bill like we do."

"Bill?" Kenny inquired. "This whole time it has been Carver, Carver, Carver. And now it's Bill?" The truck hits another bump from outside. "Oh, I see what it is. Y'all are just getting a ride home, aren't ya? That's what's going on here."

"Say that again." Nick barked.

"You're delusional." Keith said. "You think we wanted this to happen?"

"I'd stay out of this, assholes." Kenny said sending a glare towards Keith and Nick.

They returned the glare as Rebecca explained, "You don't understand. He's different… he's worse."

"The f*** are you talking about?" Kenny snarled.

"Rebecca's right." Keith said sadly. "Back at the ski lodge, he wanted me to kill him…"

"I-Is he going to kill us?" Clementine asked.

"No, he's going to use us as labor for his community, but after that… I don't know." Keith explained.

"He's a f****** psychopath!" Kenny exclaimed.

"You have no idea what you are dealing with!" Carlos exclaimed.

"Oh he gave me a pretty damn good idea back at the lodge, and I don't intend to sit around here and let that happen to the rest of us!" Kenny barked back. The truck hits another bump before Kenny continued, "I'm trying to help!"

"And I'm sure Walter really appreciated that help!" Carlos criticized Kenny.

Kenny looked down sadly at the mention of his deceased friend's name as Sarita said, "That's not fair. You're blaming him for the actions of a madman!"

"I'm pointing out that, regardless of intent, there are consequences to rash actions! Something that he is misreading as capitulation!" Carlos spat.

"I don't know what the f*** you are saying but I know it is bullshit!" Kenny exclaimed angrily. "We have to do something!"

"Kenny…" Sarita pleaded.

"You can't reason with him." Rebecca said in surrendering tone.

Kenny looked over the van and said, "Oh shit! Jackpot!" Kenny then got up and headed for a metal ribbon that had corroded loose.

"Sit down." Carlos commanded. "You're going to get us all killed!"

Kenny squatted down in front of the corroded ribbon and started to rub the bindings against it. As he rubbed against the ribbon, the rope started to snap from the sharp piece of metal. "Y'all don't know what you are talking about. We get cooped up in a kennel like a bunch of f****** dogs and it's over!" Kenny said.

"You don't know that." Rebecca said.

"Yeah? Well, I've been in this situation before. You ever been a prisoner?" Kenny asked as he continued to cut his bindings.

"We've all been prisoners. Why do you think we left?" Carlos said.

"Stop fighting!" Clementine exclaimed. "Please…"

"Clem's right." Keith said. "We can't be at each other's throats. I think the best thing we can do now is wait until we get into Howe's, develop a plan inside, and then escape after we're one hundred percent sure that the plan will work."

"I agree with that plan." Carlos said.

"Well I don't." Kenny snapped. "How do you know that there is going to be a way out when we get there?"

"Every structure has its weak points." Keith explained. "Dad's going to put us all on labor duties which means we'll be up close to the buildings, and we can find a weak spot easily. And besides, Luke and the rest of these guys managed to escape the first time, so who says we can't do it again."

"I agree." Clementine said with a smile towards Keith. He smiled back and the two looked into each other's eyes.

"Alright, now we're talking." Kenny said as he ignored Keith's suggestion. His binding finally came off and he stood up. He used one arm to balance himself in the back of the truck as they hit another bump.

"What are you going to do? Carver is going to be on the other side of that door with ten people." Carlos explained.

Sarah, suddenly, started to whimper as the tension and anxiety of the fighting were starting to overwhelm her. "There, there, baby. Everything is going to be fine." Rebecca soothed the teenager.

"At this point, maybe Luke is the only hope we have." Carlos said.

"If he was going to do something, he would have done it by now." Kenny spat.

"Who knows what he's dealing with." Rebecca said. "Anything can happen out there."

"I'll tell you what happened." Kenny said. "He abandoned us."

"You don't know that." Nick said.

"I know he's not here." Kenny said.

"He may not be around, but he wouldn't just leave us behind." Rebecca said.

"That guy is a flake. I could tell the second I laid on him." Kenny snapped.

"Luke will help us." Clementine said to Kenny.

"Oh yeah? When? After that crazy f**** killed us all?" Kenny bellowed at the girl. She reacted by staring in fear of him.

"You need to take it easy." Keith said. "Snapping at Clem is not going to help us at all."

"I didn't ask for your opinion, asshole!" Kenny yelled at Keith. Kenny then looked to Clementine regretfully and said, "Look, Clem…" Suddenly there was another bump which rocked the truck. This bump was different as the vehicle shook more than the previous bumps.

"We're close." Carlos said.

"Alright, let's do this." Kenny said.

"They have guns." Rebecca said in an attempt to stop Kenny one last time. "What exactly do you expect to do?"

"I'm gonna punch the first sonuvabitch I see. Then I'm going to take his gun and use it to shoot the next sonuvabitch I see." Kenny replied.

"Just sit down." Carlos commanded.

"You're going to get yourself killed." Keith said. "Just stop and think."

"Shut it, both of you." Kenny barked. "This ain't your call." Kenny then looked to Clementine and said, "Hey just… if something happens, just help out, okay? Don't, you know, get yourself hurt but any help'd be good." The truck hits another bump which is followed by the truck's sirens sounding loudly, indicating that it was backing up. "Hey Clem, look at me. You trust me right?"

"Kenny, please just…" Sarita pleaded. "Just listen to them. They know him."

"It's a bad plan, Kenny. I agree with what Keith wants to do." Clementine told Kenny.

Kenny was shocked by Clementine's choice and asked, "What the f*** is wrong with you? I thought you were strong Clem!" She merely ignored his angry shouts and looked to Keith hoping to find reassurance.

Keith smiled back in response as Kenny released an irritated sigh and turned to the door. "Alright, everyone read-" Kenny started to say but then the van slammed into something from outside, most likely a wall or building.

"Kenny!" Sarita exclaimed as he fell to the ground, hitting his head off the floor. Sarita ran over and checked on him. "Kenny, are you okay?"

"Is he okay?" Rebecca asked.

"I think so." Sarita replied.

"Oh…" Kenny moaned as he returned to consciousness. "What hit me?"

"It's probably for the best." Carlos commented.

"Damn brakes ain't working for shit!" Troy spat from the other side of the door as the door was lifted up. In front of the door stood Troy, Tavia, and Bonnie, each holding an assault rifle.

"Alright, up and at em!" Tavia said. Everyone got up in response to Tavia's request and started to head out of the door until there was only Keith, Clementine, and Kenny left.

Troy looked to Kenny and his eyes widened in anger. "The f***? How'd you get your restraints off? C'mere." Troy demanded.

Kenny obliged and he, Keith, and Clementine headed out of the van. Meanwhile, Carver could be heard over the PA announcing, "We've got some familiar faces back with us tonight." Troy closed the door to the van as the three left and went into the community. "Now, I understand some of you are confused as to why we'd bring some of these people back when they left us as they did." The captured group was surrounded by Bonnie, Troy, and Tavia.

"I think I got an idea." Tavia commented. Keith sent a glare towards Tavia and continued walking.

"It might not come all at once." Carver continued over the PA. "But time will heal these wounds, so be patient with them until it does…" Bonnie opened a set of double doors and they continued to walk through what appeared to be a hardware store.

"Howe's." Keith said as he looked to Clementine. "Home, sweet home."

Carver once again continued to talk over the PA. "…And take solace in knowing that they're here to help us make this home a better place." Clementine looked around and noticed several guards looking at the group with glares but once their eyes fell on her, Kenny, and Sarita, they stopped glaring and only looked to the three confused. But then they looked to Keith, and they appeared to be sympathetic.

"They look real sorry for what happened to you." Clementine told Keith.

Keith looked up and made eye-contact with a few of the guards. "Maybe." Keith said. "My mom was well-known in the community so it was a major loss to the community as a whole. For now, I wouldn't trust anyone from within these walls except for the other prisoners."

"All these feelings you have of anger…betrayal….hate… they're all valid." Carver said over the PA. "No one needs to forget what they did… but we have to find it in our hearts to forgive them." Carver was now visible from the PA booth and he looked down to his son with a smirk.

Keith sighed and ignored his father's smirk. "Look how much food they have…" Clementine said surprised by the shelves filled with food.

"I hope you ain't say what I think you're saying." Kenny said.

"Dad's always had an impressive stock pile of food. He's got almost as much food as firepower." Keith explained.

"Come on, we need you for something." Troy told Carlos.

"Can't it wait until morning?" Carlos asked. "We're all exhausted."

"Just come the f*** on." Troy said bitterly.

Carlos sighed and he followed Troy over to talk to Vera as Sarah said, "I need him. I need my dad. He-He takes care of me." Sarah, Tavia, Clementine, and Keith stopped as Troy walked back over and gestured them to move on. Having no choice, the three children kept moving with Tavia and Troy bringing up the rear.

"It's alright, he's going to come back." Keith reassured Sarah.

"When?" Sarah asked.

"We don't know, but he will be back." Clementine said.

Thanks, you two." Sarah said. They, finally, reached a garage door as Bonnie unlocked the padlock to the courtyard, which now acted as a prison.

"Make sure y'all are off the fence." Bonnie warned. "Bill can see if you're messin with it."

They all nodded and Bonnie opened the garage door. They all entered the courtyard which consisted of a fire pit and lawn chairs that surrounded the fire pit. Next to the fire pit were a couple of dining tables and furthest from the fire pit was plywood which acted as bedding. "Thanks Bonnie." Nick said.

"Yup." Bonnie said and the she followed the group into the courtyard

Troy and Bonnie took everyone's bindings off and Troy said, "Y'all better get some rest, cause there ain't going to much for ya tomorrow. You're going to be working hard."

"That's for you." Bonnie gestured to the cot that was adjacent to the garage door.

"Yeah, it would be." Rebecca said with a glare. "F****** Bill. Leaves me out in the cold, but at least I will be comfortable"

"Hey guys." Someone familiar said.

Rebecca looked to the man and exclaimed, "Reggie!" She gasped upon seeing him and went up to the man. "I'm so sorry!" Rebecca exclaimed as she hugged him. "I'm so sorry." They separated from the hug, and Rebecca saw that he had lost his left arm. "What happened to you?"

"This could have been worse. Trust me." Reggie assured Rebecca. "I'm lucky to be alive."

"Reggie got bit by a walker, shortly after you guys left." Keith explained to the former cabin survivors. "A guy named Mike was able to amputate his arm and saved his life."

Reggie smiled to Keith and said, "Hi Keith, so what's going on? Did your dad send you back here to spy on us?"

Keith shook his head sadly and said, "No, I'm in the same boat as you. I'm a prisoner now."

"Prisoner is not exactly the right word, Keith." Reggie scoffed "Besides, you aren't going to be back here for very long. No way, Erin's going to let Bill do that."

Keith was more downhearted by the mention of his deceased mother shook his head. "Reggie, my dad killed my mom, and I ran away after it happened."

"Oh." Reggie said sadly. "Keith, I'm so sorry. I never got the news about that."

Tavia entered the courtyard and walked up to Alvin. "Alvin, Bill wants you in his office." Tavia said.

"What, why?" Alvin asked.

"Don't make this difficult. It's too late for that." Tavia spat.

"No, please!" Rebecca pleaded.

"It's okay, Bec." Alvin reassured his wife. "Just get some rest. If he wanted to do something to me, he would have done it by now. I'll be fine." Alvin then turned to Tavia and said, "Let's see what he wants."

They left the courtyard as Clementine sent a glare towards Tavia. "She's mean." Clementine stated as she folded her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, she is cold and insincere. She's only nice if she wants to wrangle you up into this mess." Keith explained.

"Hey, Reggie." Troy said as he approached the one-armed man.

"Oh… hey Troy." Reggie said somewhat reluctant to talk to the heartless guard.

"Don't go f***** up now!" Troy spat. "Bill's real close to letting you out of here. You make sure everything stays nice and quiet out here tonight, and I'll be sure to let Bill know just how helpful you were."

"Yeah, you can count on me. Thanks Troy." Reggie replied.

"Don't mention it." Troy said and he and Bonnie left the courtyard, closing the garage door in the process.

… **To be continued.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Kenny, Sarita, and Clementine looked to Reggie who looked to the three with a questioning stare. "Oh right. Let me introduce you. We were with them when we got caught." Rebecca explained.

Reggie smiled and he went to greet the newcomers. "Hi, I'm Reggie."

"That's Sarita…" Rebecca introduced the Indian-American woman.

"Hi." Sarita greeted the man.

"And that's Kenny." Rebecca continued.

"Hi there." Kenny said with a smile.

Reggie smiled to the two but then noticed Clementine and asked, "Hello, who are you?"

"I'm Clementine." The girl introduced herself.

"Otherwise known as Keith's girlfriend." Rebecca said with a smirk.

Keith and Clementine rolled their eyes at Rebecca, but Kenny was extremely shocked, since he didn't hear Keith's confession back at the ski lodge. He glared at Keith and grumbled, "I f****** knew this was going to happen. I think it might be best that we keep you two away from each other for a while."

"Kenny!" Sarita exclaimed.

"I'm not going to let Clementine date a boy who has a psychopath for a dad!" Kenny snarled.

Reggie backed away noticing how the situation was getting extremely tense. Meanwhile, Rebecca and Nick glared at Kenny for his unkindness.

"How about you f*** off!" Nick barked.

"Stay out of this asshole." Kenny snapped.

"Kenny, you can't just tell them what to do." Rebecca said to Kenny.

"The hell I can't. Now that I found Clementine, I'm going to protect her from anything and that includes this asshole kid who has only got one damn thing on his mind." Kenny replied as he glared at Keith.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Clementine snapped. Everyone looked at her shocked by her outburst. "I know you think he's just some piece of crap, but I love Keith! You're not my dad, so you can't tell me whom I can and can't date! So leave us alone! All you've done is distrust him and treat him like crap! JUST STOP!"

She huffed as she calmed down. Keith's initial surprise turned to worry as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Sarah, Sarita, and Rebecca remained shocked by the girl's outburst since she always managed to keep a calm and leveled head in tense situations. However, Kenny looked on angrily at the girl and snarled, "How dare you? You think you can talk to me like that?" Something finally snapped in Kenny, and he slapped Clementine to the ground.

Clementine gasped and cried out in pain as she hit the ground. Upon realizing what he had done, Kenny looked to Clementine shocked that he had hit her as Clementine looked to Kenny surprised by what he did to her. "Kenny!" Sarita exclaimed.

Keith got down and placed his arms around Clementine protectively as Kenny said, "Aw Clem, I-"

He was interrupted when Rebecca and Nick got between him and Clementine. "I think you've done enough." Nick snarled.

Kenny looked down in defeat and started to walk away. Sarita looked worriedly to Kenny and followed him to make sure he was okay.

Meanwhile, Clementine's shock turned into sadness and she started to whimper. The fact that someone she cared about would hit her devastated her. Rebecca crouched down in front of the two with sympathetic eyes. Keith released Clementine from his grip and allowed Rebecca to take over.

Rebecca nodded and hugged the girl. "It's okay, baby." Rebecca soothed the child. "Sh… it's okay." Clementine cried for several seconds, trying to control her tears but to no avail. "Sarah, could you help me get her up. We're going to take her to that cot." Rebecca gestured to the bed that Carver had prepared for her.

Sarah nodded and the two helped Clementine to her feet. They escorted her to the cot as Nick, Reggie, and Keith looked on sadly.

Nick looked over to Kenny and glared at him. "Motherf******." Nick spat.

"It seems there is a lot of tension with you guys." Reggie said.

"Yeah, most of that tension if not all is coming from Kenny." Keith said. "It's like he's an expert at making grudges against people, even people who are considered his allies."

"Can you guys save it for the morning?" An angry exclamation was heard from one of the plywood beds. A lean man who wore a gray and black sweatshirt, blue jeans, and black shoes looked to the group with a slight glare and continued, "Some of us have to get up early in the morning.

"Who the f*** is that?" Nick asked.

"Mike." Keith said. "The same guy who saved Reggie's life."

Nick nodded as Reggie replied, "Yeah, sorry about that!" Mike only grumbled as he used the pillow to cover his ears as Sarah came back over from comforting Clementine.

"Is Clem alright?" Keith asked.

"I-I don't know. I mean she's not hurt, and she is calming down now that Rebecca is looking after her." Sarah explained.

"She was just surprised and hurt that Kenny would hit her." Nick concluded.

Meanwhile, Keith noticed a woman over by one of the dining tables. He looked to her with an intrigued look and said, "Reggie, who's she?" Keith gestured to the table where the woman sat. "I don't recognize her." She looked back over to Keith with a glare to which Keith shrugged off. She wore a brown leather jacket, a light blue pair of jeans, and black combat boots.

Reggie looked over to the woman as she got up from the table and headed for one of the plywood beds. "Oh yeah, her. Okay, so she's f****** weird." Reggie explained. "They found her sneaking around outside of the camp covered in guts and like the grossest shit."

"Ew…" Sarah shuddered at the thought of Reggie's details.

"Freak." Nick muttered as he stared at the woman. Keith looked back over to Clementine and Rebecca and noticed that Clementine was asleep on Rebecca's shoulder. Rebecca herself was rubbing the girl's arm comfortingly. Nick followed Keith's line of vision and said, "Rebecca always did want a girl."

"I know how it must look, but… it really is not that bad here." Reggie explained.

"Reggie." Nick said.

"No, I'm serious!" Reggie exclaimed. "Where else are you going to food like we have? We've got the canned stuff, and now with the greenhouses coming along, we've got fresh food. The building's getting more and more secure all the time… mostly through forced labor, but that's only temporary. They've even gotten the solar panels working. When was the last time you've had electricity, huh?"

"We actually came from a place powered by a wind turbine." Sarah said.

"Came' is not exactly the right word. I'd say abducted would fit better." Keith remarked.

"Yeah, I agree with Boy Wonder." Nick said.

"Look guys, it's not a competition." Reggie said. "I'm just saying that it's not as bad as you think. We're building something great here. A real community and Bill is making it happen."

Nick and Keith looked at each other with a confused look until Keith looked to Reggie and asked, "Did my dad brainwash you or something?"

"What? No!" Reggie exclaimed. "I made mistakes and Bill had every right to kill me, but he didn't and instead he's giving me a shot at redemption."

"That doesn't make up for what he has done, Reggie." Nick growled. "He played a part in what happened to my uncle."

"Pete… he's gone?" Reggie asked being shocked and saddened at the same time.

"This place is a prison, Reggie." Keith said rather coldly.

"Well that is quite a negative attitude." Reggie scolded Keith.

"No, he's right, Reggie. We aren't staying here for very long. If anything, we're going to do everything to escape from this hellhole. If that means we burn down the walls and kill everyone here, then that is what it will take." Nick said with a scowl.

"No, listen guys!" Reggie pleaded with the three. "Bill is really close to getting back in the group and once that happens, I can do a lot more to help you guys get comfortable."

"Reggie, we don't want to stay here!" Nick exclaimed. "If anything we want to destroy this place so that we don't return to it!"

Reggie sighed and said, "Guys just please don't mess this up for me. I've worked really hard to get to this point. Will you please try to not cause too much trouble for me?"

"I'm not making any promises, Reggie." Keith said coldly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Same." Nick said with a disgusted glare. He couldn't believe what was happening. He remembered Reggie wanting to leave Howe's as soon as possible by the time that Luke, him, and the rest of the cabin survivors were about to escape, but now, Reggie was almost brainwashed into thinking that he owed Carver his life.

Reggie sighed in defeat; he accepted their decision, even though it would probably cause trouble for him in the future.

Nick eyed Clementine and Rebecca out of the corner of his eye and then looked down to Keith. "Go ahead and join Sarah at the fire, I'm going to go get Clem." Nick said.

Keith nodded, and he and Sarah went to the fire pit. They were joined by Sarita who had exhausted all of her option to calm Kenny down from the earlier incident. Reggie sighed sadly and said, "Well that went about as well as planned… I should have made a plan." He then walked to the fire pit.

Nick approached Rebecca and crouched down to be eye level with the woman. "She's asleep." Nick whispered with a smile.

Rebecca smiled and whispered, "I know." She rubbed the girl's arm and sighed. "I forgot Kenny wasn't in the lodge when Keith confessed his feelings for her. I feel as though this is my fault."

"It's not." Nick said and he sighed as he looked down sadly. "It was my fault. I should have saw that coming, I mean I'm supposed to protect them… her and Keith…"

Rebecca place her free hand under his chin and lifted his head to her smile. "Look at you." She said proudly. "When we were at that cabin, you were just a reckless boy, but now you're a real man. If Pete could see you now, he would be so proud of you."

"Thank you." Nick replied with a smile. "You don't know how much that means to me." He looked to the resting Clementine and said, "I can take her. You're going to need to be rested up for tomorrow." Rebecca nodded and Nick got up. He placed an arm under Clementine's back and another under her knees, all the while having her head positioned on his chest. Impressively, she didn't stir a bit as he carried her from Rebecca's cot to one of the plywood beds. He placed her on the plywood bed and went to the fire pit.

Keith looked to Nick and smiled appreciatively for his kindness towards Clementine. Nick smiled back but his smile soon fell as he thought over the group's current situation. "So what do you think Boy Wonder?" Nick asked. "Do you think that there are going to be many openings along the courtyard?"

Keith shook his head and said, "I'm afraid not. If anything, my dad had this area especially fortified to prevent escapes.

Suddenly the garage door opened up. Everyone looked over to see Carlos walking into the courtyard with Troy escorting him.

"Dad!" Sarah exclaimed happily and she ran up to hug her father.

"Alright, the rest of you go the f*** to sleep." Troy barked. "I'm shootin the first of y'all that I see wonderin around before sun-up."

Troy grumbled as he headed for the garage door. "Hey, where's Alvin?" Nick exclaimed. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" However, Troy ignored him and slammed the garage door down. "Motherf*****." Nick muttered.

With that, Sarita, Nick, Carlos, Keith, Sarah, and Reggie went to their own plywood beds and laid down. Keith laid down between Clementine and Nick. He looked to Clementine somewhat worriedly, but then, he turned to Nick as Nick said, "You know, I wish we would have gotten along with each other sooner. I feel like I have lost so much time, and Pete, I hope he knows what's happening, so he could be proud of me."

"Clementine told me what Pete's dying words were." Keith said.

Nick's eyes widened in shock and he asked, "Wh-What were they?"

"He said that he loved you and he wanted Clem to look after you, but if anything, it's been the opposite. You've been looking after her… and me." Keith said.

Nick smiled and he looked up to the sky. "Go ahead and get some sleep, Boy Wonder. We're going to need every bit of strength tomorrow."

Keith smiled back and said, "Sure thing, Batman."

The two then allowed sleep to take them and what must have been hours of sleeping felt like minutes.

**Morning**

Clementine felt someone nudging her. "Hey wake up." Keith said as he continued to nudge the girl awake. Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked to him with a smile to which he returned the smile. She needed the extended sleep that she got last night. She was noticeably chipper now.

However, Troy didn't see her wake up and grumbled. "Alright that's it; you're taking too long!" Troy approached the two and continued, "Get out of the f****** way and let me wake her up, which is what I should have done to begin with!"

Keith sent a glare at Troy and said, "She is up, moron."

"F*** you!" Troy spat.

Keith turned to Clementine and said, "Come on. Dad usually gives us a lecture before anything else."

Clementine nodded and Keith helped her to her feet. The two walked over as Troy sent a glare at the two children. They, of course, shrugged him off and joined the group as Carver started his lecture. "There's been increased activity along the fence so be mindful when outside the walls." Troy walked up and joined Tavia. The guards glared towards the group as Carver continued, "The herd's moved closer as of this morning, but that still doesn't necessarily mean we'll be hit. Know that we're monitoring the situation." Carver adjusted his focus to a new topic and started to explain, "Now… there might be some folks who are sore about what happened… at how things went. That's all in the past now. Some of you are new to our community, some of you are members that went astray. But know that you can find redemption here… forgiveness… by proving your worth through what will undoubtedly be hard work."

Keith rolled his eyes at his father's lecture; he knew his father was lying. Carver turned to Reggie and said, "Reggie, you're nearly back in. Keep following the path, and we'll welcome you back with open arms."

Sarah noticed Clementine next to her and she asked, "Hey, you okay?"

Carver looked to Sarah with a slight glare and then continued, "I'll let Reggie be an example to you all-"

However, Carver was interrupted slightly as Sarah continued, "We were worried about you last night."

"I'm okay, Sarah." Clementine said. "Thank you for your concern, but we got to listen right now."

"Are you sure? We can talk about it if you want." Sarah said. "I mean I-"

"CARLOS!" Carver shouted angrily which caught everyone's attention.

"Yes?" The doctor asked.

"Your child seems to be in need of correction." Carver said. Keith winced as memories flowed of all of his 'corrections' provided by his father.

"I'm sorry, I-" Carlos began but he looked to Sarah and said, "Sarah a-apologized to Mr. Carver."

"Sorry." Sarah said nervously. "I'm sorry sir."

"No, no. That ain't going to cut it." Carver said. "I can't have this kind of behavior on day one of your reform. You discipline her now, Carlos. Hell, I would never let Keith Blake get away with this kind of behavior, I would beat his ass for it." Carver said as he turned to his son.

"How do you propose that I-" Carlos began to ask but Carver interrupted him.

"One good smack across the mouth should do it." Carver said. He glared towards the frightened teen and continued, "It'll make her think twice before opening it up again." He looked to Carlos and said, "Go on, we'll wait."

Everyone, except the heartless guards looked to Carver in surprise, even Reggie was shocked to see Carver act so cold and heartless.

"Well, I'm not sure with my hand that I can-" Carlos started to say as he raised his hand with two broken digits.

"Well, that's why you got two hands, Carlos." Carver interrupted the doctor once again. "Come on. And not some namby pamby thing, alright?" Carver went up to the doctor and continued. "A good hard smack. Otherwise, Troy here will do it for ya." Carver indicated to the heartless guard behind him. "He can be… overzealous." Carver turned to Troy and asked. "Is that the word?"

"If it means that I'll smack the shit out of her, then yeah." Troy said with a smirk.

"It's my fault, too." Clementine exclaimed.

"Hey! No one's f****** talking to you!" Troy snapped as he got closer to Clementine only for Carver to stop him with a hand gesture.

"Unless, you want one of what she's about to get, I'd pipe down, missy." Carver said threateningly.

"Dad, just let her off with a warning." Keith said. "We just got here, and-"

"Shut your f****** mouth Keith Blake, or I will discipline you as well!" Carver bellowed. Keith looked down and stayed quiet as Carver looked back to Carlos. His eyes glared with an icy cold stare that told the doctor to do as he was asked.

Carlos looked down sadly and obliged as he stood in front of his daughter. Sarah shook obviously afraid of being hurt by her own father. "I'm sorry dad. I'm so sorry." Sarah said tearfully.

"Close your eyes honey." Carlos said sadly. "It's only going to sting for a second." Sarah looked down sadly feeling as though that she disappointed Carlos. Carlos accompanied his daughter being reluctant to hurt her.

"Do it." Carver commanded after several seconds of hesitation. Carlos sent an apologetic stare at Sarah which was followed up with a hard smack across her face. Sarah wept from the hard hit as both Clementine and Keith cringed, Clementine especially since the same thing happened to her last night, with the only exception being that Kenny wasn't forced to hit her.

Sarah continued to weep to which Carlos instinctively approached her and said, "I'm sorry, Sarah."

"Stop!" Carver snapped. "You are not coddling that girl anymore. Let her sit there and think about what she's done." Carver turned to Troy and said, "Troy, get Carlos to his post. Everyone else should have their assignments. It's time to get to work."

Troy went over to Carlos and smirked as he looked over Sarah. "Damn, you really did knock the shit out of her doc."

"Shut up, Troy!" Nick snapped.

"Everyone get to work!" Carver exclaimed.

Clementine looked to Sarah sadly as Keith said, "We're working in the armory, I'd imagine."

"That you are." Tavia said. Keith rolled his eyes upon seeing Tavia. She ignored his gesture and said, "Follow me." She then headed for inside the warehouse with the two children following her.

Both children stopped when they heard an exclamation, "Soil, coming up." It was followed by the churning and breaking of wood.

A couple of bags of soil landed left to them as they heard Kenny snap, "Damn this thing."

"Oh shit." The woman from last night spat.

"Clementine! Keith!" The two ran into the warehouse upon hearing Tavia bellow out their names.

* * *

"Who are these two?" A teenage girl asked as Keith and Clementine continued to walk with Tavia.

"She's one of the new people." A young woman explained. She then looked to Keith with sympathy as soon as she realized who he was. He ignored her gaze, not wanting her sympathy. "The boy is Keith Carver." The woman continued.

"Wait, Bill's son?" The teenage girl asked.

"That's right." The woman said. "They were with Carlos and Sarah and-"

"Ugh not Sarah." The girl complained as she turned back to the woman. "I wish she'd stay gone."

"She's had a hard time, Becca." The woman said.

Clementine looked back to the two as they continued their conversation. "So have we." Becca said as she sent a glare towards Clementine. "But, we're not sitting on the ground crying like babies."

Clementine went back to following Tavia and asked, "Who are they?"

"Shel and Becca." Keith said. "Shel is nice enough, but as you could tell, Becca can be very bitter and mean."

Tavia led the two children to a metal door and said, "Go on inside. Bonnie's waiting." The two obliged and Keith opened the door to where they could see Bonnie with two lawn chairs set up around an ammo box.

Bonnie gestured them to sit with her and she said, "Hey, I guess you're starting your day with me." The two nodded and took a seat as Bonnie grabbed a couple of empty magazines and handed one to Keith who sat closest to Bonnie. "We're loadin magazines." Both Clementine and Keith started to place bullets within the magazines as Bonnie looked to them happily and said, "That's it. You got it."

They continued to load the magazines for several seconds until Bonnie said, "I suppose that I owe you an apology… I wasn't truthful when I came across y'all at the lodge… and I was shown with kindness I never would have expected from a group of strangers. But now… folks are dead… and I can't help but feel I'm to blame. But the plan was for no one to get hurt."

"Mistakes were made on both sides. Let's just be thankful that it didn't get worse…" Keith said sadly. He closed his eyes tightly as his mind drifted off to the horrible memory of Carver holding Clementine at gunpoint. He shook his head to refocus and nodded indicating that he was okay.

"Keith's right. If I would have known that Kenny was outside about to shoot, I would have stopped him." Clementine said. "It's not your fault."

"That's big of you two, but I know what I did. And I ain't proud of it." Bonnie said as she continued to load the magazine as did the two children. "The plan was if I was the one that found everyone, I would control it. Keep everyone safe… but that ain't how it went."

"You should know by now that my dad will always control the situation, especially when you let him." Keith said.

"I know and I'm so sorry." Bonnie said in a pleading tone. "I know that it doesn't account for much, but it's all I can offer right now."

Keith sighed as Clementine looked to him for his own decision. She then looked to Bonnie with a smile and said, "I forgive you. It's not like you intentionally tried to get us killed. You had good intentions, but others got in the way."

"Yes, exactly." Bonnie said happily. She then frowned and looked to Keith who was now looking up at the two. "Well, how about it, Keith?" Bonnie asked. "Can you forgive me?"

"Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other, also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either." Keith phrased and he looked up with a smile. "I forgive you."

"Wh-what was that?" Bonnie asked.

"…Luke 6:29, right?" Clementine asked after pondering for a couple of seconds.

Keith grinned and said, "You're amazing."

"Well then, I guess I now know why you two are a couple. You almost have the same mindset." Bonnie said as she continued to load the magazine. Both children smiled towards each other and joined Bonnie in loading the magazine. "So how was your first night in the yard?"

"You mean our first night in prison." Clementine scoffed.

"It ain't a prison… think of it as a work release." Bonnie said.

"You call it what you want to call it and we'll call it as it is." Keith said. "Bonnie, that yard is a prison and you know it."

Bonnie looked down sadly and continued, "You know, I was supposed to go… when Luke, Carlos, and all of em left, I was planning on leaving too. When Luke approached me about it, I-I thought that he was crazy. I mean we got food, electricity and shelter here."

"And a psychopath spearheading the whole thing." Keith added as he continued to load his magazine.

"You know Bill wasn't always like this Keith. His obsession with Rebecca… it drove him off the deep-end." Bonnie said sadly.

"Either way, it doesn't matter. I'm going to have to fix this one way or another." Keith looked down sadly and said, "I should have tried to fix it the first time. Maybe then so many people could have been spared from this nightmare."

"Anyway, I justified my reason of not going by saying that it was easier to fix something broken than to start all over." Bonnie explained to the two. "Take this situation with the herd… that's the type of thing that rips a community apart. He keeps things in line… he has a lot of stuff figured out."

"Nobody is safe here with Carver around." Clementine said.

"You're safe as long as you stay on his good side." Bonnie said.

"I would if I knew where it was." Clementine mumbled.

"I mean it ain't easy keeping a group this big fed and protected. I don't envy that position. Figured that'd make anyone stressed. I'm not defending what he did back at the lodge. That was…" Bonnie remarked. "…I'm alive because of him and that's just a fact."

"It sounds like you really respect him." Clementine said.

"It's not that… I just have sympathy for the man…" Bonnie said as Keith dropped his magazine.

"Sympathy is not exactly the right words." Keith said with a slightly angry tone. "He killed my mom, Derrick, and Walter. Plus he had hand in Pete's death. The way I see it, he has brought all of the pressure of running this community upon himself."

"That's rather cold, Keith." Bonnie criticized.

"I only call it as I see it." Keith stated bluntly.

"He's still your dad-" Bonnie said.

"You don't think I know that!" Keith snapped. "Everything he does, everyone he kills! That's all on me just as much as it's on him!" Keith sighed as he tried to calm down. "And just like I said back at the lodge, I still love him because he is my dad. I'm sad that he has become this psychopath, and I'm disappointed that he has killed so many people just for his own means."

Bonnie looked to Keith sadly and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to suggest…" She stopped herself and looked back to Clementine. "Luke had ideas about how things should go, but they didn't line up with what Bill was thinking… then Rebecca started showing signs, and that only made things worse." Bonnie sighed as she considered everything that was said and continued, "Maybe Luke was right about him… I wish he was around, but… I just hope he's safe."

Suddenly, Bonnie's hand-held radio came on and Tavia's voice came over it. "Hey Bonnie, is that girl and Keith down there with you. I need to come get them."

Bonnie pressed the button and said, "Yeah, they're here."

"Okay, I'll come right over." Tavia said.

Clementine looked to be distressed by the fact that Tavia mentioned her and Keith by request. Bonnie noticed this and said, "I'm sure it's fine." Bonnie reached over and grabbed the magazines from the two and said, "Oh, I almost forgot. I grabbed this for ya." Bonnie then got up and retrieved a light blue winter coat and handed it to Clementine.

She looked back with a grin and as Clementine placed the coat on and asked, "Huh? What do you think? I found it at the ski lodge that y'all were at."

Clementine zipped the coat up and smiled, "It's cool. I like it." Clementine replied.

"Well I'm glad. I thought it looked cute, but I didn't know what you'd think." Bonnie said.

"You look cool, Clem." Keith said.

"Thanks Keith." Clementine said.

"Oh there you are." Tavia said as she entered the door. "What's with the ugly jacket?"

"Tavia…" Bonnie said angrily.

"What?" Tavia said.

"Never mind, I'll see you two later." Bonnie said to Clementine and Keith.

"Come on." Tavia said. Clementine and Keith followed Tavia as Clementine now looked down at her jacket questioningly.

"Ignore Tavia." Keith whispered. "You look awesome in that jacket."

"Thanks." Clementine said happily. Keith smiled back as Tavia escorted them to the roof of Howe's Hardware.

…**To be continued.**

**A/N: I'm going to say this right now, so I don't get flak. I am NOT for or against Kenny. To me, Kenny has several flaws, but when you really need him, he can be a really good ally. So, don't give me flak for being anti-Kenny, because I'm not. I can usually go both ways with Kenny. On a different note, look at how much Nick is growing up… Pete would be so proud. I'd say Nick does a good job of being a father figure in this chapter for Clementine, since Luke is off at who knows where.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Keith and Clementine followed Tavia to the roof. She opened the door to the roof as she barked, "Follow me. Come on."

Clementine and Keith followed her both looking questioningly at each other. They both walked to a greenhouse which was located on top of the building. Tavia opened the door for the two children to which they entered the greenhouse. "Stay in here for a minute, I'm going to radio down and find out what you two are doing. Don't touch anything." Tavia said followed by her closing the door.

"Well, she's just delightful." Clementine said sarcastically.

"Yeah, she's quite the grouch, isn't she?" Keith asked. "I don't know. I think working with Troy would be better than her."

Suddenly both could hear whimpering in the greenhouse and turned around to see Sarah in the corner. "Hey…" Clementine said as she approached Sarah. "…You want a hug?"

Sarah merely sat in the same position, hugging her knees and looking down distantly. "Well okay." Clementine said. "I owe you one for later then. You might not know when it's coming though… but I could sneak up on you when you're least expecting it."

Keith chuckled at Clementine's cuteness and he crouched down in front of Sarah and said, "I know it's hard to move on from something like that, but look at the bright side, your dad was at least sympathetic for hitting you. Mine hasn't been sympathetic for almost three years now."

"My dad has never hit me before." Sarah said. "Even when I was really bad… he never hit me."

"He didn't want to hit you, Sarah." Clementine said. "Carver's the bad guy in all of this, not your dad. So in a weird way, Carver is the one who hit you, not your dad."

"Yeah… well Carver hit me super hard, because it still hurts like crazy." Sarah said as she caressed her sore cheek.

"Yeah, it looked like it." Keith said.

Sarah then looked up to Clementine and asked, "Are you okay from last night?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Sarah. It just shocked me that Kenny would hurt me." Clementine said sadly.

"I think someone else needs a hug other than Sarah." Keith said.

Clementine looked to Keith, unsure of accepting his offer or not until Sarah said, "Thanks… for trying to help… I just don't understand why people have to be so mean… Even when I'm really mad, I still don't want to hurt anyone."

Keith got up and the two stared at Sarah with sympathetic eyes. They both knew that she wasn't made for this world and she would constantly need to rely on someone, otherwise she wouldn't survive. Suddenly the door opened up with Reggie entering the greenhouse. "Don't mess this up!" Tavia hissed.

"Yeah, I get it." Reggie replied.

Keith shook his head towards Tavia's bitterness as Tavia turned to the three children. "Reggie is in charge here, okay? Listen to him carefully."

Sarah got up and joined Clementine and Keith as Reggie said, "Yup, no problem, Tavia." Tavia then closed the door and left.

"Okay, we got to do a good job, guys." Reggie explained. "The camp is counting on us. Come on, I'll show you what to do." Clementine and Keith followed Reggie with Sarah lagging behind. They approached a table and Reggie continued, "It's super easy. Pick up those shears." Clementine and Keith did as Reggie instructed but Sarah was still in shock from being hit and was only half listening. She eventually followed their lead and picked up her shear.

"Okay so we're picking these berries, right?" Reggie continued. "Just pick them and put them in the basket. Simple." Clementine looked over to Sarah worriedly as Reggie explained, "While you're at it if you see any dead branches, take those shears and cut them off and stack them neatly for compost. Got it?"

Keith and Clementine nodded and they walked over to one of the tables. However, Reggie now noticed that Sarah wasn't in very good condition and he followed the two children. Clementine looked over one of the plants ready to start as Reggie walked over and asked, "Hey, so… is she going to be alright?" Reggie asked.

Both Clementine and Keith looked over to Sarah who only looked down to her shear. "I don't know. I'm a bit worried about her." Keith said. He then released an agitated groan and said, "My dad is just stupid. She wouldn't be this way, if he hadn't made Carlos hit her."

"Yeah, for once I agree." Reggie said. "That was f***** up down there. I just don't want her freaking out and getting me in trouble."

"I'll take care of her… you don't have to worry." Clementine said.

"Good… Good, because I'm awful at that stuff." Reggie said. "Look, Bill has had it out for me ever since I helped those guys escape, so I gotta concentrate on my work." Reggie smiled to the young girl and proceeded to pat her on top of the head. She sent a glare towards him which Reggie replied with slowly backing away from the two. "That was awkward. I won't do that again. I'm going back to work." He then left the two children and went to work on one of the plants.

Keith chuckled and said, "Sorry about Reggie. He's a good guy, but he's terrible with kids."

Clementine nodded and she looked over to Sarah who was still unsure of what to do. "I need to go help her."

"Okay." Keith said. "I'll stay over here."

Clementine then walked over and said, "Hey…" Sarah looked up to Clementine and Clementine proceeded to cut off a dead branch, while Keith went through very quickly cutting off any dead branches on the first plant. He then proceeded with the second as Clementine continued to show Sarah how to cut off the branches.

Eventually, Sarah joined in as Keith finished the first set of plants. "That's it." Clementine said. "You got it."

"I know." Sarah said sadly. "I'm just afraid that I'll make a mistake."

"It won't be the end of the world if you do." Clementine said.

Keith quickly grabbed the next plant but in his haste he quickly took off a healthy branch. "Shoot!" Keith exclaimed.

"What? What's wrong?" Clementine asked.

"I accidentally cut off a good branch." Keith explained.

Suddenly the door to the warehouse opened and Carver started to walk towards the greenhouse. "Oh shit!" Reggie hissed.

"Oh no." Sarah and Clementine said simultaneously.

Reggie quickly inspected the area and looked on horrified to see that Keith's work wasn't touched, in fact one plant was ruined because he accidentally took off a healthy branch. "You didn't do any of your work, Keith!"

"Wait, isn't that my work?" Clementine asked.

"No, I did your work first." Keith replied.

Suddenly the door opened and Carver analyzed the greenhouse. Sarah gasped upon seeing him but Carver said, "Just checking in… wanted to see how the new recruits are working out." Carver looked over and was impressed to see that Sarah's work was completed, but then he growled upon seeing Clementine's finished and Keith's work was not. "Reggie." Carver hissed.

"Yeah, Bill, what's up?" Reggie asked somewhat frightened.

"What the f*** happened in here?" Carver inquired.

"Look, Bill, they're new and me with my arm, it's just not as eas-I just hav-I have one arm so-" Reggie stuttered trying to explain the situation.

"Shut up, shut up." Carver snapped. "Shut the f*** up." Reggie looked down sadly and frightened by the older man as he continued, "You better have a good explanation for this. And I mean now."

"Bill please just-" Reggie tried to defend himself.

"Sounds like you were about to give me an excuse when I asked for an explanation." Carver said.

"It's my fault, dad." Keith said. "It was my work and I didn't complete it. So it's me who should be blamed for this."

Carver shook his head and said, "Oh no. This ain't your fault." He then turned to Reggie and said, "We talked about this Reggie. Didn't we? But you don't get it, do you?

"Get what? I…I…" Reggie trailed off as horror filled his eyes.

"Girls, Keith Blake, why don't you go outside. Reggie and I need to have a little talk." Carver said

Keith, Clementine, and Sarah did as they were told as Reggie said, "Thanks for the help guys."

Keith and Clementine walked from the greenhouse and looked at each other as Carver could be heard yelling at Reggie in the greenhouse. They then noticed Sarah walking towards the edge of the roof. "What's wrong, Sarah?" Clementine asked. Sarah didn't respond and looked to the horizon. Clementine then approached Sarah and asked, "Are you okay?"

The argument in the greenhouse seemed to escalate and Keith turned around upon hearing his father's booming, angry voice. "Guys?" Keith said.

Suddenly the door slammed open with Reggie stumbling out as Carver approached him angrily. Sarah and Clementine watched on in horror as Carver approached Reggie angrily and yelled, "I gave you plenty of chances!"

"NO! NO! NO!" Reggie pleaded with Carver as he backed Reggie to the edge of the roof. "Bill, please no!" Suddenly, Carver grabbed Reggie by his shirt collar and smirked evilly to the man as he pleaded. "NO! NO! PLEASE!" Reggie exclaimed.

"DAD, NO!" Keith exclaimed as he tried to stop him, but Keith was too late as Carver pushed Reggie over the edge. Reggie screamed in horror until he landed on the ground, with his skull cracking open. Keith backed away from the edge as both Clementine and Sarah looked to Carver in horror.

"Weakness… incompetence… it puts us all at risk, and it won't be tolerated." Carver explained to the three children. "You think about that, the next time that you are asked to do something." Carver then looked to Sarah as she huffed in horror of the murder that she just witnessed. Both Clementine and Keith looked to her worriedly as Carver hissed, "Get downstairs… Bonnie will have things for you to do." Clementine and Keith hesitated to which Carver bellowed, "Go!"

Clementine headed for the stairs, but Keith remained where he stood and he asked, "Are you going to hurt Sarah as soon as I leave?" Keith even shot a glare at his dad.

The man glared back and stared him down "You have your assignment, Keith Blake." Carver growled.

"Answer my question." Keith growled back.

Carver was surprised by the boy's assertiveness and smirked. "You surprise me." Carver said. "The old Keith Blake would lower his head and do what he was told, but you're different."

"I'm not that scared little boy that you used to beat on at the beginning of the apocalypse." Keith informed his father.

His father's smirk grew and said, "If only you could focus on more important things than the safety of that broken girl over there, you would make a good leader. You see Keith Blake, you and I are very much the same. We are strong and people like her are weak. It's up to people like us to guide them to safety."

"I'm not like you." Keith said.

Carver looked to Keith with a frown and said, "Disappointingly, you're not. But in time, you will become like me."

Keith shook his head and he asked, "Are you going to hurt Sarah?"

"No." Carver replied. "I still have some use for her. Now go and talk to Bonnie." He then left Keith and went to talk to the frightened teen.

Keith went to the door to the warehouse which Clementine waited for him. "What's going on?" Clementine asked.

"It's nothing. Let's go talk to Bonnie." Keith said. "We need to tell her what happened to Reggie." Clementine nodded and the two ran off to find Bonnie.

* * *

Finally the two spotted Bonnie as she loaded some nails and screws in a couple of buckets. They both walked up to her with horrified expressions and she said, "Oh hey. So they want you two to run some supplies out to the guys working on the expansion." She approached the two with the buckets of supplies and continued, "Real simple. Just take this over to em."

Clementine looked down sadly still recalling Reggie's death. She was also frightened, but both emotions were misread by Bonnie. She figured that Clementine was sad about the jacket being ugly. "That jacket looks real nice. I don't know what Tavia's talking about…" Clementine continued to look down sadly. Bonnie realized that the girl was not sad over the jacket and asked, "What's wrong? Clem? You alright?" Bonnie then looked over to Keith who was still shocked by what happened back on the roof. "You both look like you've seen a ghost."

"Bonnie." Keith said. Bonnie looked to Keith as he sighed and said, "My dad killed Reggie."

"What…" Bonnie asked. "Maybe… maybe it was just an accident."

"No, we both saw it." Clementine said.

"Bonnie, I swear, I would never lie about something like this." Keith added. Panic was easily traced in their voices.

Bonnie looked around and then squatted down in front of them and said, "Listen to me. Take this stuff out to those guys and come straight back. Just be safe. Now ain't the time to be callin attention to yourselves."

"Too late for that." Keith said.

Bonnie raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why?"

"Dad and I had a little conversation before I got here." Keith explained. "It was the only thing I could think of to keep him from hurting Sarah."

"Dammit!" Bonnie said and she looked off distantly as she tried to think of a plan. "Okay, just go ahead and take that stuff out there. I'm going to go find out what happened." The two children nodded as Bonnie got back up and went to the door to the emergency exit which acted as the door to the expansion.

Bonnie opened the door for Clementine and Keith and yelled, "Hey Troy. Clem and Keith are going to take some nails to those boys."

"Alright!" Troy hissed.

"Go on." Bonnie said and she closed the door.

Keith and Clementine looked to the body of Reggie with Keith being regretful. "If I could have only acted quickly enough… now that blood is on my hands." Keith said.

"No it's not." Clementine said. "You tried to save him."

"Hey!" Troy bellowed. "That ain't your concern! Get that stuff over to them boys! Just follow them cables!"

Clementine and Keith looked down to the cables and started walking. "Like I said before, every person that my dad kills, that's on me just as much as it's on him."

"It's not Keith." Clementine said. "You're a kind and wonderful person towards people. What your dad does is not your fault."

"I can't help but feel responsible, though-" Keith said but he was interrupted when Clementine kissed his cheek.

He blushed and smiled at the girl who said, "Now I want you to stop beating yourself up."

"Yes ma'am." Keith said with a wide grin. However Troy looked down to the two disgusted by what he saw.

The moment between the two children was interrupted when they both heard growling from the other side of the fence. The fence groaned but seemed sturdy enough to hold the walkers back. Clementine and Keith continued to walk until they reached the expansion and opened the door. The expansion was filled with tools and equipment like plywood, lights, hammers, and pallets.

"I ain't nobody's laborer." Kenny hissed as he pushed Mike into the wall and placed his arm against Mike's throat making it difficult to breathe. "F*** that! Let them do this shit themselves, if it's so damn important."

Clementine and Keith dropped their supplies and ran to the two hoping to calm the situation. "Get your freaking hands off me!" Mike snapped.

"You ain't going to force me to do bullshit." Kenny hissed.

"I said get your hands off me." Mike choked.

"Or what?" Kenny inquired. "Are you going to tell on me?"

"I'm trying to help you asshole." Mike replied.

"Guys enough." Keith pleaded.

"Reggie's dead!" Clementine exclaimed. "Carver killed him!"

"What?" Kenny asked surprised to see the two children and even more surprised by the fact that the man he had just greeted last night was dead. Kenny released his grip on Mike and the man huffed. However, they didn't notice the loose wooden board which was the only barrier between them and the walkers. Kenny looked to Clementine sadly and said, "Look, Clem, about last night… I'm sorry. I ain't your dad and I have no right to tell you whom you can or can't date."

"I'm sorry too, Kenny." Clementine said. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that."

Kenny squatted down to Clementine's level and said, "Darlin, you had every right to yell at me. You have nothin to apologize for. I was being a complete ass last night." Kenny looked over to Keith and said, "Keith, I'm sorry that I've been on you like I have. I guess I'm not ready to see Clem grow up." Kenny then began to smile and he looked back to Clementine. "Heck, I still remember Clem when she was just a small little eight year old." Clementine rolled her eyes as Kenny got back up.

"Whoa… hold up." Mike said as he finally was able to speak. "Are you sure about Carver killing-" Suddenly the window shattered and the bottom board fell loose under the walkers' weight. The walkers growled as they entered the expansion, looking around easily identifying the four people as food. "Shit!" Mike exclaimed as he ran off to grab a screwdriver.

"Grab something!" Kenny exclaimed as he looked for a weapon as well.

The walkers started to pour in with each person having to kill two, except for Clementine who was left with one. Keith quickly used his hand to hand combat to try and knock his two walkers off balance. He did a hard kick to one of the walker's legs. However, he was forced back by the other walker as it made a grab for him.

Clementine, on the other hand, was pushed back to the back wall by her walker. She tried to stun it with a wooden plank but to no avail.

Keith pondered on another course of action as he was pushed further and further towards the wall which had a steel pallet laying on its side in front of the wall. He finally had an idea but it would be risky. Thankfully, the idea came to mind just in time as Keith's back was against the wall. He laid on the ground and kicked the wall to propel himself past the walker between its legs. The other walker lagged with a limp which meant that Keith could focus his energy on the walker that wasn't limping. He then used his leg to kick the walker in an angle and it slammed into the steel pallet. The walker then fell on the ground with the steel pallet falling on top of it, crushing its skull.

His victory was short lived as the other walker limped towards him he quickly dived away from the walker. He then eyed a hammer with some of the supplies that he and Clementine were taking to Kenny and Mike. He grabbed the hammer and used the blunt end to force the walker to the ground. He followed this by using the spike to crush the walker's skull. It resulted in him bashing the walker's skull four times until it stopped moving.

* * *

Clementine quickly saw her opening through a shelving unit and started to squirm away from the walker. She huffed as she kept trying to get distance between her and the walker. However the walker was only gaining on her. However, she was forced to stop upon seeing the attachment joint for the unit. She pushed the shelving as the walker got closer. Finally, she weaved out of the back part of the shelving which fell back and crushed the walker's skull.

Clementine's victory was short lived. Now three other walkers were heading towards her. She quickly eyed a nearby ladder and tilted it to drop on top of the first walker to subdue it. But now the other two walkers were heading for her. She ran into the back room, but in her haste she tripped on the wiring to the construction light. She desperately tried to free herself from the wiring but to no avail. Meanwhile, the second walker was getting closer. Clementine then eyed a screwdriver and snatched it up. The walker dived for her mindless and in its haste impaled itself with the screwdriver. Unfortunately Clementine still had another walker to deal with and it jumped on top of the dead walker in an attempt to grab her. She kept it away at arm's length but she couldn't keep the walker away for long.

Just as Clementine's strength started to fail, the walker was yanked off of her and with a grunt and slammed into a wall. The person who pushed the walker off of her, Keith, proceeded to hammer the walker's skull in, even past the point of death. He grunted angrily as he kept swinging the hammer into the unrecognizable skull of the walker. Clementine had pushed the dead walker off at this point and approached Keith as he huffed exhaustedly, swinging the hammer one more time into the walkers skull. He dropped the hammer and huffed as Clementine approached him.

"Hey." Clementine said as she approached the boy and placing a supportive hand on his shoulder. "I'm okay."

Keith turned around and quickly hugged her. He huffed as he did so, trying to relax while catching his breath. He then held her back by her shoulders and said, "I'm glad… you're okay." She smiled to him, thankful that he had saved her life.

"F****** disgusting!" They both heard and looked over to see Troy standing in the door way. "You two make me want to throw up."

"Well you didn't have to watch, moron." Keith replied.

"F*** you!" Troy hissed. "Come on get out of there. F****** sickos."

Clementine and Keith obliged as Troy glared at the two with a disgusted look. They exited the back door with Clementine still feeling shaky from the close to death experience. She even whimpered slightly until Keith held her hand and whispered, "Sh… everything is alright."

Clementine nodded, however she was still frightened by the close-to-death encounter. She hasn't come that close to death in a long time.

"Oh my word!" Kenny exclaimed happily to see the young girl alive. "You're okay!"

"Okay, enough mushy shit." Troy bellowed. "You two get back inside right f****** now and if I ever see you two hugging each other again, I will f****** end you both. You think I'm f****** around? GO! NOW!" Keith and Clementine walked to the door as Troy turned to Kenny and Mike. "Now I got to sit down here and babysit your assholes. Can't do a simple f****** patch job without me cracking the whip?"

Clementine and Keith exited the expansion and headed back towards Howe's. The walkers banged on the outside wall in a useless attempt to get in. "Are you sure you want Troy to watch us instead of Tavia?" Clementine asked.

"I stand corrected." Keith said. "Still, I don't why he has come to not like you. I know he hates me because I gave him the slip a few months back."

"I don't know, maybe he ju-" Suddenly Clementine was grabbed from behind and dragged into a comic bookstore.

Keith jumped upon seeing Clementine getting nabbed and ran into the comic bookstore to see Luke. He was trying to keep Clementine quiet as she tried to free herself from his grip. Keith ran up to Clementine and said, "Clem, Clem, it's okay. Calm down, it's just Luke. It's Luke." Clementine relaxed and Luke released his grip.

"I came all this way and this is the welcome I get." Luke said teasingly. Clementine smiled to him and hugged the young man.

He hugged back with a smile and the two separated. "I was worried. We all were."

"Aw, it's good to see you too kid." Luke said. He then frowned and said, "Alright, listen I don't have much time, okay? Followed y'all here as best as I could. Haven't had night's rest since y'all got nabbed and… well this's first chance I got to talk to somebody." Luke's speech started to pick up speed and slurred slightly in his haste. "They're everywhere, okay? They got guards. Watchin everything. Sh, sh-sh." Luke shushed the two as a pair of footsteps could be heard outside.

They passed as Luke got up and continued, "There is a herd of lurkers just south of us. It's bigger than I ever seen around these parts." Luke walked to the door and looked out the door to check to see if there were any guards outside.

"Dad mentioned that on the PA." Keith said. "He's hoping they'll pass on by, but if you ask me, that's not going to be the case."

"Yeah you're right." Luke said as he closed the door and looked back to the two children. "That herd is going to slam right into this place… now I don't know when, but it's coming and it's going to be soon. You see, I have been looking for places to… to get y'all free… but I haven't been able to find anything."

"Are you feeling alright?" Clementine asked.

"No….no… I mean yes. Yeah, sorry. I-I could just use some sleep you know? Hard to rest when you think a lurker is about get the jump you any minute. But yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Luke replied.

"Climb up a tree next time." Keith suggested. "You'll wake up with a sore back but it'll be worth it to get some sleep."

This whole thing seems dangerous." Clementine said.

"Yeah well, this whole situation is dangerous." Luke said as he started to walk away from the door. "We just… we just need a plan… y'know a way to get you and… and everyone…" Luke trailed off as he contemplated.

Meanwhile, Clementine and Keith could hear footsteps from outside and looked to the door worriedly, fearing that someone would burst through the door any minute and find them with Luke. "Luke…" Keith and Clementine said simultaneously to get his attention.

"Sorry, sorry." Luke said as he tried to refocus. "Shit… okay. Troy ain't going to like you two being late." Luke then approached Clementine and said, "Listen, Clem, I need you to meet me here at around this time tomorrow because I need you to get me one of those radios, okay? Do you think you can do that? Just one of those walkie-talkies. I just need to be able to tell y'all what's going on with them guards. I'll figure out the schedule their patrols are on. I mean they're-they're all over the place, but I can keep an eye on them for y'all out here."

"O-Okay, I'll get you one." Clementine said.

"Thanks Clem, I'm glad that I can count on you." Luke said happily.

Meanwhile, Keith kept an eye on the door and said, "Guys, we may need to wrap this up."

"Right, sorry, sorry." Luke said. He then looked to Clementine and continued, "Remember, you meet me here tomorrow. I'll try to be around here at this time, but if I ain't… just wait for me as long as you can, because I really need one of those radios. Just let everybody know that I'm alright."

"Clementine! Keith!" Troy could be heard. "Get out where I can see you couple of jackasses."

"Clem, we got to go." Keith said He then looked to Luke and said, "Luke, make yourself scarce before my dad or any of the guards find you."

"Right, sorry." Luke said. "Go on. Get out of here." Clementine and Keith and they headed for the door as Luke exited the building through a small escape route.

Clementine and Keith exited the door, only to hear Troy ask, "The hell were you two doing? Huh? I will beat the shit out of you if you don't tell me right now." He approached the two with his assault rifle in a threatening manner.

"We were just looking through some comics." Keith replied.

"Yeah, well you shouldn't be dawdling. The next time I see either one of you doing shit that doesn't help us, I will shoot you." Troy barked. "Bill radioed. Wants a word with both of you in his office. Well go! Get to his office! NOW!"

The two children ran off towards Carver's office as Troy smirked aiming his sights on them, imagining to shoot them both.

* * *

Clementine and Keith were nearing Carver's office and they both could see Carver talking to a distraught Rebecca. They both looked up worriedly and continued to walk towards Carver's office.

A stocky man wearing glasses looked to the two with a smile aimed towards Keith. "Hello Keith and Keith's girlfriend." The stocky man said.

"Hey Wy." Keith said happy to see the man. Keith then looked to Clementine and said, "Clem, this is Wyatt. He was part of Bonnie's group."

"Hi, nice to meet you." Clementine greeted Wyatt.

Wyatt smiled to her but then frowned and looked to Keith. "Dude, your dad, is pissed. You'd better go see him."

Keith nodded and the two walked toward the stairs, passing by a couple of check-out stations. They reached the stairs and started to walk up the steps. They both felt worried as they climbed the stairs to the top…

…**To be continued**

**A/N: Yeah allow me to say that I ****REALLY**** hate Troy. Owen Thomas, you were absolutely amazing as Omid. I miss that character so freaking much, but… why did you play as Troy?**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Merry Christmas to everyone. My Christmas gift to you is updating a day earlier with SoT.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Clementine and Keith continued to walk up the stairs and into Carver's office. As they walked up the stairs, Rebecca ran out of the office crying, her hand covering part of her face.

"Rebecca?" Clementine said worriedly. The woman ignored the child and continued to walk down the flight of stairs.

"She's a strong woman, surrounded by weak men. I ain't lettin my kid get raised around that." Carver said as the two children turned to the leader of the community. He wore a smirk as he continued, "After all, I already let that happen once, and the results were disappointing."

Keith glared at his father and asked, "What did you do? Why was Rebecca crying?"

"How disappointing." Carver stated. "Keith Blake, you could be an amazing leader for this place, but all you ever concentrate on is the weak, such a waste." He then looked at both children as Keith lost his glare and only shook his head, disappointed by his father's cruelty. "Now get in here." Carver said.

Clementine and Keith entered the office to a gruesome sight. Alvin was beaten to a bloody pulp. He appeared to be unresponsive and was slumped down in the chair.

"Alvin! Alvin!" Clementine exclaimed as she approached the man. Keith looked on in horror as Carver entered the room.

"He passed out hours ago." Carver explained with a slight chuckle in his voice. The two children turned to the psychotic leader as he continued, "He can't hear you. No point in making a racket."

"Why are you doing this?" Clementine asked.

"Me and him, we got history. Understand?" Carver explained. "A couple things we had to… get worked out." He glared at the two children and continued, "I wouldn't be too concerned on his well-being if I were you two. Not with you both so close to the fire yourselves." Carver then looked to his desk and said, "Now…" He made a hand gesture for the two to sit in front of the desk.

Clementine and Keith obliged and sat in a couple of chairs. "You two make sure and tell me the truth when you're sitting where you are… and you won't end up over in that chair." Carver said as he made a gesture towards the chair that Alvin was in. "Now you may not believe this from what happened earlier, but… I liked Reggie." Carver smiled and relaxed, but Keith could tell that his father was only putting up a façade to fool Clementine into thinking that he was a decent man. "He was a funny guy. He kept things light. You need folks like that… it's easy to let depression sink in during times like this." Carver walked behind the desk to address both children before he continued, "But he was weak. And I don't mean because he was maimed, that wasn't his problem. He was weak in will, weak in character. And we can't have that around."

"That's a lie." Keith said which shocked Carver. "You hated Reggie, the only reason you kept him around was to convince Luke's group from escaping again. But as soon as you found out that he failed, you saw him as something useless, a liability, and decided to toss him aside."

Carver smirked and hummed. "I'm quite impressed Keith Blake. You figured that out, all on your own?"

"Wasn't hard to figure out." Keith explained. "Why put Sarah and me on the same project with a man who can barely do his own work? You set him up to fail, and even if by some chance that we pulled through, you were still going to kill him."

Carver began to clap his hands and said, "Bravo. You definitely got your mother's analytical brain." He looked back to both Clementine and Keith. "You see, Reggie put us at risk with his incompetence. He's had a string of screw-ups lately." Carver got up from behind his desk and approached Clementine to sit in front of her on the desk. He stared down to intimidate the girl which worked slightly and continued, "Killing one to save many is a part of survival. It's one of the tough decisions that a weaker person couldn't make. It's why it falls to people like us to bring them to safety." Carver then directed his attention to Keith and continued, "And one day, Keith Blake, you will have to make the same decision. To kill or let everyone else die."

"No…" Keith said. "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13."

Carver glared at the boy and asked, "You still believe that book of lies?"

"No, the Bible has no lies, only truth." Keith replied. "After all, you believed in it too when you were still William Carver."

Carver was stunned for a second at the mention of his former self. "We all are more alike than either one of you two would like to believe. There's no other way you could have lasted this long, otherwise." Carver focused on Keith and said, "I realized back in that cabin, that the world had molded you into something I could only dream of achieving. The annoying little boy that had no backbone, no will, no strength, he's gone now and you have taken his place." Carver turned his focus to Clementine and said, "As for you, I must say, my boy has good taste in picking out a strong girlfriend. I could tell when I held you at gunpoint that you were scared, but you looked me straight in the eye and kept your nerve this morning. That's what we need. If we're going to survive this, the next generation is going to have to be stronger than the last. Kids like you two, raised the right way. The way my new child will be raised. It ain't any herds that keeps me up at night. It's if this community has a future, and I came so close to having a good leader, a good applicant, but it might be better to start from scratch."

"It's not your baby. It's Alvin's." Clementine said.

"Well, even if that was true, it's mine now." Carver said with a slightly disappointed look. Neither children were thinking like him in the slightest, which was starting to irritate him. "Now-"

"Bill, you there?" Tavia asked from a radio transmission.

Carver went up to the radio and picked it up. "Yeah? I'm here." Carver replied as he looked out to the hardware store from his office.

"The loading bay door is jacked." Tavia replied. "Troy really knocked the shit out of it."

"How bad is it?" Carver asked as both Clementine and Keith eyed the PA system setup.

"Rails are tweaked so it won't shut all the way." Tavia explained. "I don't think it's an emergency or anything, but it's something that Stan should take a look at when he can."

"I'll get him on it. Out." Carver grumbled, easily annoyed by the new mess that Troy had made. "That f****** idiot. A herds on its way and he puts a ding in my door. Go on out back to the yard… it's almost supper time." Carver said as he contemplated over the new information.

Clementine and Keith got up and walked to the door while looking at Alvin sadly. They proceeded to exit the office and went towards the yard, both contemplating on the best course of action.

* * *

True to Carver's word, it was supper time and very dark outside. Keith and Clementine entered the yard as Tisha opened and closed the garage door for them. "…Because we all know what happened this morning. I don't know what that sonuvabitch is going to do next." Kenny exclaimed. Clementine and Keith walked up to the fire pit where everyone was gathered.

"So you wanna just ring the dinner bell for a herd of walkers to show up?" Mike inquired. "How's that better?"

"Cause this place will be in f****** chaos when that thing hits." Kenny explained as Clementine and Keith sat in a couple of unused lawn chairs. "No one'll be payin attention to us. And that's when we go. That's our opening. We just got to figure out a way to draw them to us."

"Your friend here is trying to get us killed by lurkers before Bill can do it." Rebecca said to Clementine.

"What is it with you?" Kenny asked.

"That's what it sounds like to me." Rebecca replied.

"You know that's not what he's saying… but it does sound dangerous." Sarita said.

"This shit is all dangerous!" Kenny exclaimed.

"Kenny!" Sarita snapped. "Do not speak to me like that!"

"Okay, okay, sorry." Kenny apologized.

"I have to admit, I agree with Kenny." Nick said. "Staying in here any longer is a mistake."

"Maybe Luke could help us… he's outside." Clementine explained. "He wants a radio to keep an eye on the guards."

"Thank you." Rebecca said happily. "That's the plan I vote for."

"You know about Luke?" Clementine asked.

"He flagged us down when Troy wasn't looking." Mike explained. "Told us his plan… mentioned that he talked to you two."

"If Luke can tell us what's going on with the guards, we can use that to pick a good time to escape." Rebecca explained.

"That seems reasonable." Sarita said.

"Who knows when that'll be?" Kenny inquired. "There was a girl back at Crawford that used church bells to send walkers all over the city. We just need something really loud."

"The PA system that Carver uses is quite loud." Sarita said.

"There are some speakers outside the building… pointing towards the parking lot." Mike said. "I saw them when we were going out to work."

"My dad has the PA system controls in his office." Keith said. "There's a switch in there that will turn on the speakers."

"How do you know that?" Mike asked. Everyone looked to Keith waiting for his reply.

"I used to help mom with announcements back in the day." Keith explained. "I accidentally turned it on once; thankfully, there wasn't many walkers around to hear it. But it was plenty loud though."

"That's perfect." Kenny said. "We just got to get to his office. Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"Because that is not a good plan." Keith replied. "Have you given any thought about Alvin? How are we going to get him out of the office? Do we need to split up so that some people could go get him? How are we going to protect ourselves?"

"Look, I think we just need to worry about ourselves." Kenny said.

"That's my point proven. A good plan gets everyone to safety including injured members. Your plan's too erratic and neglecting of safety." Keith replied.

"You're real difficult to deal with sometimes." Kenny said.

"Kenny…" Sarita scolded.

"Look, I just want to get everyone to safety. If you consider me some sort of ungrateful idiot for it, fine, but I don't want to leave someone here and let my dad have his way with him. No one deserves that." Keith said.

"Why can't we do both?" Clementine asked. "Even if we bring the herd to us, it's probably good for Luke to be able to tell us where they're coming from."

"You know what?" Kenny said. "Fine. I can get behind that."

"Yeah, two plans are better than one." Keith said. "However, we should make it a priority to get Alvin."

"I agree." Rebecca said with a smile, thankful that at least someone was looking out for her husband.

"Okay, so we give that turd the radio, he keeps us posted on the herd's movement. We fire up the PA thing and we bring the walkers to roll over this place." Kenny said.

"And then what?" Mike asked.

"Get some guns and fight our way out." Kenny replied. "I don't know, whatever we can do. We improvise."

"Then that's not a plan." Mike said. "You don't plan to improvise."

"I just figured out what your problem is… you don't think this stuff through." Rebecca said. "If the end of the plan is to stroll through a herd of walkers, then you should know from the jump that there's no way it's ever going to work."

"Actually that's exactly what we're going to do." Keith said.

Nick looked to Keith with a weird expression and said, "Now, I know you've lost your mind."

"Actually…" The woman from the other night approached the group and said, "Your boy's right. I do it all the time."

"Great, now we have two people who lost their minds." Mike said.

"Hush." Sarita hissed at Mike and then looked back to the woman. "What do you mean exactly?"

"When you cover yourself in their smell, rub the walker guts all over you… they can't tell you from one of them." The woman explained.

"Now I don't know who's crazier." Rebecca said.

"Trust me." The woman said. "I've walked through herds before. It works. You have to just keep calm, and make sure you're good and covered."

"You sound like you know what you are talking about." Sarita said.

"Yeah, she's telling the truth." Keith said. "At some point, I got covered in walker guts. The walkers couldn't tell the difference between me and them."

"Lee figured that out." Clementine said.

"What?" Kenny asked shocked by the mention of his deceased friend's name.

"That's how we got out of the Marsh House." Clementine explained. "Lee covered me and we walked right through."

"Really?" Kenny said with a smile. "Holy shit. Good one Lee." Kenny then got up and asked, "Alright! What are we waiting for? Let's get that stupid radio."

"We still have to find a way to get into the stock room." Rebecca said.

"I got a plan for that too." The woman replied. She looked over to Clementine and said, "Come on, kid. I'm going to need your help." Clementine got up and followed the woman with Keith following Clementine.

"Where the hell did she come from?" Kenny asked.

Keith eyed what the woman was looking at and smirked. "Ah, I understand where you're getting at. You want to use the winch. Someone pulls Clem up high enough to where she can use the ladder and she climbs up from there." Keith said.

"Exactly." The woman replied. She then looked to Clementine and said, "Once you're up there, just drop down from one of the skylights. There are shelves and stuff to land on, so… you probably won't fall to your death."

Everyone else approached Clementine, Keith and the woman as Clementine shuttered from the last sentence. "Everything sounded okay until you mentioned that last part." Clementine said.

"That thing breaks all the time." Rebecca said. "Unless something's changed, it won't support much weight."

"Alright, up and at em." Kenny said encouragingly to Clementine.

"Don't push her, Kenny." Sarita said.

"She's our best bet. I mean that, Clem." Kenny said.

"He's right." Keith said. "No way is that winch going to support my weight. You're the best we got, Clem."

"It seems pretty flimsy." Clementine said referencing the wench.

"This plan?" Kenny said. "Yeah, I agree with that. Clem it's you or nobody, so you're nominated."

Clementine still looked unconvinced; Keith approached her and hugged her. "Have I not command you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged…" He separated from her and held her by her shoulders as she smiled to him with bright eyes. She knew this verse; it was the same one that Lee would read to her every time that she woke up from a nightmare back at the motor inn, "…for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

"Joshua 1:9." Clementine said with a smile. Keith nodded with a smile. "Okay, I can do this." Clementine said to the rest of the group.

Kenny nodded and said, "Okay, we got to get that rope down." He turned to Mike and said, "Mike you wanna boost her up?"

Mike headed for the wall where the winch was and said, "Come on, kid." Clementine followed him.

Mike lifted her up onto his shoulders as Clementine said, "Don't let go."

"I got you." Mike said. Clementine was in arm's reach of the rope and started to pull on it. Eventually, the hook to the winch came down from the roof. Mike placed Clementine on the ground and grabbed the rope.

Clementine placed her foot into the hook of the winch and Mike began to pull on the other end of the rope. Clementine started to ascend to the stairs, and it seemed as though things were going as planned. "Try to hurry." Mike whispered. "I don't think that they're the sharpest guards in the world, but they're no idiots either."

"I don't know about that, Mike." Keith replied. "I think a monkey can do Troy's job."

Mike scoffed and said, "You got a point there kid." Suddenly, they could all hear footsteps from the other side of the warehouse garage door. "Shit, he's coming back." Mike whispered. "I got to let you go. I can't stand here. Grab something."

Clementine nodded to Mike and leapt for the ladder. She grabbed onto the ladder and started to climb up it. As she climbed the ladder, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. A large herd of walkers were slowly making their way to the community; the herd's size rivalled the herd of walkers that Clementine had to walk through with Lee back in Savannah. "We're in trouble." Clementine said. She refocused and continued to climb up the ladder.

She reached the top and noticed a guard on the roof looking out to the herd radioing to someone. Clementine had to move quickly before the guard could see her. She ran for the skylights as the guard said, "You are not going to believe this. There are thousands of walkers heading right for us…"

Clementine looked down one of the skylights. It had a couple of shelves and freights that she could use to maneuver her way down safely. She opened the skylight and landed on one of the shelving units. She then looked down to survey the area. She noticed Tavia talking into one of the radios, she was probably talking to the guard on the roof. She got up from her seat as Clementine continued to eye the area. Clementine looked to what was sitting on the boxes next to Tavia and her eyes widened. It was a couple of chargers with several radios on them.

Clementine started to descend from the shelves being careful as to not get Tavia's attention. She slowly approached one of the freights from the shelving and descended onto it, she then descended on another freight as Tavia walked around. She overheard Tavia talking into the radio as she finally reached the ground. "I know what you mean, I thought we would be used to it now." Tavia said. Clementine approached the charging station of the walkie-talkies until Tavia came back around the corner.

Clementine quickly backpedalled and hid from the guard behind a freight. "You never got used to that, not even a light buzzing?" Tavia asked into her radio. She looked over the freight thinking that she saw something as the reply came in on her radio. "I'll give you that one." Tavia replied as she walked away.

Clementine came out upon hearing Tavia's voice getting fainter. "Bill wants me to start getting that bay door fixed." Tavia said. Clementine approached the charging station as Tavia continued to talk to the guard on the other end of the walkie-talkie. It was followed by a muffled voice that couldn't be identified. "…Yup." Tavia replied. "…Troy backed into it when he brought the prisoners- I mean new people in."

Clementine reached the walkie-talkies as she could hear the guard at the other end say, "See? It's hard not calling them prisoners."

"Anyway, I'm looking at it now and… I don't think we have what we need." Tavia said. "I mean, we repurposed a lot of shit to get this place built. I can't say for sure if we had the materials before we started expanding." Clementine saw her chance and tried to grab one of the radios but quickly ducked when Tavia turned her head towards the girl's direction.

"I don't know about you, but it seems like we really shouldn't be doing this yet." The guard at the other end of the walkie-talkie said. Tavia went back to looking at the radio which allowed Clementine another chance to grab the radio. "Can't we just wait until need more space to make more space?"

"I don't know, Hank." Tavia said. "Bill has a plan. Look, let's say we'll call it for now. We'll talk later."

"Alright, talk to you later." The guard, Hank, replied.

Tavia lowered the walkie-talkie to her side and went to inspect the door that she would have to start fixing tomorrow, thanks to Troy. Meanwhile, Clementine reached for a couple of the radios and quickly grabbed them off the charger. She then started to climb back up to the skylight.

She was halfway up to the skylight when she noticed Tavia pulling out a cigarette. She gasped upon hearing a new voice. "You can't be smoking back here!" The man exclaimed.

"Vince come on." Tavia said in a defeated tone. "Don't give me that. I've had a rough day having to watch a couple of snot nosed kids."

"Hey, from what I heard from Bonnie and Wy, they sound a hell of a lot better than having to put up with some of the asses that live here." Vince said. Clementine went back to climbing out to the skylight as Vince continued, "Besides, you know if Bill sniffs a whiff of smoke back here that he'll flip. What're you thinking? You know what? I'm just going to tell him. I'm not going to let someone else get blamed for this. That's bullshit." Vince started to walk away from Tavia as Clementine reached the skylight and began to pull herself up.

Tavia threw the carton of cigarettes on the ground and pursued Vince calling out his name a couple of times.

Clementine was back on the roof with two radios, one in each pocket in her coat. She made her way back to the ladder and descended down. Once she was on the last rum, she noticed Mike leaning against the wall. He noticed her and asked, "Did you get them?" She nodded in reply. He smiled and approached the ladder. "Go ahead and drop down. I got you." He then angled himself underneath the ladder, ready to catch the young girl.

She released her grip from the bottom rum, and Mike immediately caught her. "We best get in bed; Troy will be back any minute." Mike said as the two approached the plywood beds.

Kenny and Nick stirred upon seeing her. "Well?" Kenny asked.

"You okay, Babs?" Nick asked.

"I got em." Clementine replied to Kenny and she held out one of the radios. "And I hate that nickname, Nick." Clementine said as she turned to the young man.

"Don't blame me." Nick said with a smirk. "Boy Wonder was the one to suggest it."

Clementine smiled in response. "Nicely done, Clem." Keith said.

"Everyone stay where you are." Kenny said. "No need in drawing attention."

Everyone laid down, congratulating Clementine on her success. The last person to congratulate her, Jane, said, "I told you, you probably wouldn't die. Nice job."

"Thanks." Clementine replied.

"Yup." Jane muttered. "Anyway, get some rest."

Kenny laid back down as Clementine started to close her eyes. "I thought about Duck today, about his dumb little face…" Kenny said. Clementine opened her eyes as Kenny looked up to the plywood bed above him. "…first things that come to mind are always the dumb things he was doing… Kid was always running in circles. Every damn place we went, he'd just run. Couldn't stop him… makes it harder to remember that he was a good boy." Kenny finished with a tear in his eye. He seemed to stare off distantly as Clementine's eyes started to droop. Finally, sleep overwhelmed her and her eyes closed, only to be open again for the morning light.

**Morning**

Morning and the group groaned as they woke up. They all went to one of the dining table to discuss plans on how to get Luke the radio. "Alright, we're all here." Kenny said as he looked to his companions.

"Someone's got to get that radio out to Luke." Rebecca said. "So what's the problem?"

"We should probably figure out who's doing what before we-" Kenny started to say but was interrupted when the garage door started to open. Kenny quickly grabbed the walkie-talkie before the door completely opened. The radio was now out of sight as Tavia entered the yard.

"Time to get up." Tavia said. "Daylight's burnin. They let y'all sleep in all things considered.

"Where's my dad?" Sarah asked. It was true; Carlos was not in the yard at all last night. More than likely, Carver forced him to work until he fainted from lack of sleep.

"He is where the rest of you are going." Tavia replied. "To work. Rebecca, Sarita, Jane, Sarah… if you got to take a piss, do it now. The next break won't be for a while." She then looked to the rest of the group and continued, "Troy'll be coming out for the rest of you."

The group looked to her questioningly and stared back at each other. They all had the same thought. "Why just them?" Kenny asked.

"Like I said… Troy's coming for the rest of you." Tavia said.

"And you think that's a good idea?" Keith asked. "Do you have any idea how many times Troy threatened to kill me and Clem yesterday?"

"Trust me, if Troy does anything that stupid, he's going to answer to Carver." Hank said to reassure Keith. "And you know how your dad doesn't tolerates insubordination."

"Now let's move it ladies." Tavia said to the group that she called out for. They followed Tavia as she would lead them to their duties for the day. Hank closed the door as the last of them left the yard, leaving Nick, Keith, Clementine, Kenny, and Mike to devise a plan.

"Alright, look if we're going to do something, we got to do it NOW." Kenny said. "And if Luke's all we got, then we pair up with him."

"I can do it." Mike said. "Where's the meetin?"

"Bad idea." Keith said. "Mike, Troy's going breathing right down yours and Kenny's back today for what happened yesterday. If anything, I should do it."

"No, neither of you are doing it." Kenny said. "Clementine should do it."

"Are you f****** kidding me?" Nick inquired. "Do you have any idea what will happen to her if she gets caught? She'll get beaten to a bloody pulp! I ain't letting that happen; f*** that shit."

"Yeah, Kenny that seems like a long shot. I mean she's just a kid." Mike exclaimed. They then heard a loud bang from within the warehouse.

"There are a million reasons why she should do it." Kenny explained to the two. "She knows Luke, she can hide, she got the damn radio in the first place…"

"Who cares?" Mike said.

"I'm sorry Mike, but I don't know you from f****** Adam, alright?" Kenny said. "And if I'm trusting someone to do something this important, I'm trustin her."

"You don't trust me to get a radio to someone?" Mike inquired.

"Kenny's right." Clementine said. "I should do it."

"Don't do something stupid just to get some respect." Mike said

"She doesn't need your respect." Kenny snapped.

"Give me the damn radio." Mike said.

Meanwhile, Nick overheard footsteps coming closer to the garage door which was followed by a metal bang. Someone was opening the garage door. "Shit." Nick hissed. He immediately grabbed the radio from Kenny's grasp and said, "We're wasting time." He quickly crouched down to Clementine's height and stuck the radio in her coat pocket. After he finished, he looked to her with a smile and said, "Listen to me, you're going to be okay. You're tough, a lot tougher than me. Just know that, you're going to okay."

Clementine smiled back and she hugged Nick, thankful for his encouragement. He hugged back and patted her on the back. They separated as the door opened with Troy entering. "Alright little chickens, let's get to peckin." Troy said as he approached the group. "And don't think today is going to be like yesterday. No way. No shenanigans. This rooster's going to be surveying your ass every second of the day, you hear?" He looked to Keith and Clementine and hissed, "You got that? I need an answer from you two sickos."

"How about you back the f*** off?" Nick said as he approached Troy.

"How about I shove this gun up your ass and keep firing until finger bleeds?" Troy snapped.

"Troy, they get it!" Hank yelled from the door. "Get them to work, or I'm going to get Bill, and he's going to beat your ass to death!"

"F*** you Hank!" Troy hissed. He grumbled as he turned to the rest of the group and said, "Fine let's go. Come on." Troy then led the way for the group.

They passed by the door as Hank muttered to himself, "I don't know why Bill didn't kill his useless ass at that lodge. Ever since these guys have shown up, all he has been is a useless pile of goat shit."

…**To be continued**

**A/N: Troy is doing an excellent job of pissing everyone off. Even the other guards are starting to hate him. Haha. Hank, you are my hero for saying that to Troy, but that will not spare you from death. You're still easy pickings, like everyone else except for Clementine and Keith for obvious reasons.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I've wanted to write this chapter for a very, very long time.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Troy continued to escort the group, keeping a hateful glare towards Clementine and Keith. They could usually ignore his glares, but it has now gotten to the point of complete uncomfortableness and creepiness. They neared the exit which was used to get to the expansion until they heard Bonnie.

"Hey, Clem and Keith are with me." Bonnie said.

"Oh shit." Troy hissed. "I almost forgot."

Bonnie stood in front of Troy and glared at him. "Yeah."

"Well, take them, then. I don't care." Troy said as he pushed both children with his assault rifle.

"Wait, wait." Kenny said, frightened that the plan was starting to fall apart. "What's going on?"

"None of your business." Troy replied.

"Just chores of a different kind." Bonnie said. "Come on, city mice." They looked back to the group somewhat worriedly, but then proceeded to follow Bonnie.

"Can't you cut them a break?" Kenny asked. Bonnie turned to address the group as Kenny continued, "They'd rather keep with us… people they know."

"Actually, this is way better than working with a creepy lunatic guard. We'll be fine." Keith said.

"You want to repeat that?" Troy hissed as he got closer to the boy.

Bonnie got in front of the boy and shielded him from Troy. "You got your orders, Troy. And I got mine. Now get going." Bonnie said with a glare.

"You better teach him some manners while I'm gone." Troy hissed and he started to walk away with Kenny, Nick, and Mike.

"Manners?" Bonnie scoffed as Troy left. "If he knows what they are, why doesn't he have any?" She then led the children to the armory. She became rather serious and said, "I just wanted to make sure you both were alright. I didn't believe you two… when you both told me about Reggie. I ran and asked Bill once I left you two. Figured even if he had done it, he'd make up some sort of excuse, but… Bill was so matter-of-fact about it… like he pulled up a weed or something. Like it had to be done... that was just one of those moments when your blood runs cold." Keith and Clementine looked down sadly at the mention of what happened yesterday and how Reggie died as Bonnie continued. "Goose pimples up and down your arm." They arrived at the armory door and Bonnie looked to the children with a horrified expression. "Cause it turns out the person you thought you knew… was never there."

"He is there." Keith said sadly. "He's just buried… very deep down inside." Meanwhile Clementine looked left and right. She needed to get Luke the radio.

"You look anxious, Clementine. Is something the matter?" Bonnie asked. Clementine looked over to a couple of members from Carver's group that were walking past the three.

Bonnie got the hint and opened the door. The two children entered as Bonnie asked, "You know you can talk to me, right? I was dishonest when I first met you, but I swear that I will never do that again."

"Bonnie…" Clementine said as she grabbed the radio from within her coat pocket. "Luke's waiting for me to give him this radio. He needs it."

Bonnie's eyes widened upon seeing the swiped radio and she said, "Clementine…!"

"All we need from you is to not care where Clem is for fifteen minutes." Keith said. "Bonnie, we trusted after you lied to us. We took a risk by doing that. Now it's your turn to trust us."

Bonnie pondered for a couple of seconds until she scowled. "If you get caught and you mention my name, Carver will be the least of your troubles. Okay?" Clementine nodded somewhat worried what Bonnie will do to her if that was to happen. "Well what are you waiting for?" Bonnie asked.

Clementine headed for the door until Keith stopped her. He smiled at her before he kissed her on the lips. Once again, the kiss was magical. The last time she felt this way was back at the lodge when she and Keith kissed for the first time. Clementine's cheeks turned red and she began to kiss the boy back.

After a couple of seconds, they separated and looked to each other with blushed features as Bonnie's mouth hung wide open. "Ho-How do you two even know how to do that?" Bonnie exclaimed.

"It's one of our many secrets." Keith said. He then turned to Clementine and said, "Good luck and stay safe." Clementine nodded and she ran out the door, leaving Bonnie and Keith in the room. "Anyway, what projects do we have to do today?" Keith asked Bonnie.

Clementine ran out of the armory and tried to orient herself on where to go. Suddenly, she heard a voice behind her. "Bill don't like no stragglers." A young man in a blue jacket said. "You better move along and get where you need to go." Clementine nodded and ran off towards the comic bookstore. Meanwhile, the guard, Russell, stayed at his position and kept a sharp eye for any other stragglers.

* * *

Clementine crouched down as she noticed Troy looking over her group as they tried to rebuild the expansion. She made a quick dash towards the comic bookstore. "Y'all better hurry that shit up!" Troy hissed. "I hate babysitting you assholes."

Clementine quietly entered the comic bookstore as Troy continued watching Mike, Nick, and Kenny finish rebuilding the expansion that was demolished yesterday.

Clementine entered the store and whispered Luke's name. "Luke!" There was no response. Clementine figured that Luke was still hiding, thinking that she was a guard. "Luke, it's me… Clementine. It's safe to come out." She noticed a blood stain on the floor and approached it. "That looks really old." Clementine said. "He's probably fine." Clementine called out for the young man a couple more times hoping that he would come out but he never did. She looked around the corner and asked, "Was he sleeping here."

Suddenly the door opened, and the person who opened it was the worst possible person, Troy. He glared upon seeing the girl and said, "I swear that you're going to regret this."

"I was told-" Clementine began but received a smack across her face for her effort in creating a lie.

"You ain't supposed to be out here!" Troy hissed and he grabbed her by the back of her neck. He dragged her outside as he exclaimed. "You people have been here for two f******* days and already you're f****** up." Troy continued to drag Clementine to Mike, Kenny, and a worried Nick who wanted to get the girl away from Troy. "Well you wait and see what happens." He finally shoved the girl into the group. She stumbled until Nick caught her and helped her regain her balance. He hugged her protectively as he shot a glare towards Troy. "MOVE!" Troy hissed.

"HEY!" Kenny bellowed to the mistreatment of Clementine. Troy only scowled in response as he aimed his rifle at the four. Reluctantly, the four did as Troy told them and they headed for the yard.

* * *

The four entered the yard and saw most of their group watching Carver pace back and forth. On the ground in front of Carver was Luke with Carlos looking him over. Carver obviously had beaten him. Keith looked down to Luke concerned to see the young man in such poor condition.

"Get over there." Troy hissed behind Kenny, Nick, and Clementine. The three advanced and joined alongside Keith as Carver continued his speech. Troy took the opportunity and joined his fellow guards.

"…and how is it that we are repaid for our trust? With treachery…? With deceit…? With theft!" Carver asked. His voice was laced with anger and disappointment.

"What's going on?" Clementine asked.

"They have the other radio. Carver found it on Rebecca." Keith explained.

Carver held up the radio and explained with his calm gruff voice, "Whatever you were planning is over. It's done. You can't just run away from your problems. You can't just up and leave when the going gets tough, cause there's nowhere else you can go where it ain't. Tough is all we got now. Get that through your f******* skulls." He eyed each member that was part of the yard and ignored the guards, knowing that they already knew what it took to survive. He stepped away and continued, "Luke here can't help you now… you got to help yourselves…" Carver went up to the guards and looked to the group as a whole again and finished. "…you got to help me find the strength to forgive you. And now you can start by telling me where the other one is."

His voice then grew threateningly and said, "I'm going to count to three and if that radio isn't in my hand by then, we'll have to make things more difficult." Keith's eyes widened as he realized that his dad was serious.

Carver looked around to see no volunteers and hissed, "One…"

Everyone appeared anxious as they didn't know what to do. Keith looked to Clementine out of the corner of his eye when his dad looked to the other side of the group. He then looked back to his dad. He knew this wasn't going to end well; his dad was too worked up to think rationally. "…Two." Carver announced.

Clementine looked down defeated and made a move for the walkie-talkie in her coat pocket, but Keith quickly grabbed it and announced, "I have it. I got it right here." Keith said as he took the walkie-talkie up to his father.

"Keith, no." Clementine said as she made a move to stop him.

Kenny held onto her shoulders and said, "Darlin, listen to me. Everything will be alright. Keith knows what he's doing." Nick looked on, worried for the boy's safety but couldn't do much of anything not with the guards standing around with assault rifles at the ready.

"Here, I'm sorry. It won't happen again." Keith said as he handed the radio to Carver.

Carver smirked and said, "Three." He then glared at the boy and hissed, "I knew it. I f****** knew it. Underneath that tough façade, you're still the weak nine year old that can't stand up for himself. YOU F******* INGRATE!" Carver bellowed as he punched Keith as hard as he could. The violent punch forced the boy to the ground and he started to cough.

"KEITH!" Clementine squealed in horror.

"F***!" Mike exclaimed. Carver followed by grabbing onto Keith's dark green hooded sweatshirt and punched Keith in the face again. "Holy shit! Stop!" Mike exclaimed.

"Stop him! Somebody just stop him!" Clementine desperately called as she tried to wrestle from Kenny's grip. Kenny's grip grew tighter and permanently stopped her by wrapping his arms around her, preventing her from escaping his grasp. "Let me go!"

"I'm sorry, darlin!" Kenny said. "I don't want you getting hurt."

"Troy, do something!" Mike exclaimed as Carver punched Keith repeatedly. "F***! You don't have to do this Bill!"

Clementine continued to struggle out of Kenny's grip and cried, "No! Please stop him!"

Nick looked over to Carver and glared at him. Keith had helped him get over Pete's death and has given him something to live for. He would not let Keith die, not now. Nick ran towards Carver, only to be hit by the butt of Troy's rifle. He yelled in pain as he fell to the ground. "You piece of shit." Troy hissed as Nick groaned to get off of the ground. He received a new scar curtesy of the blow.

Carver continued to hit Keith repeatedly in the same area. His left eye. He continued to deliver blow after blow as more and more blood appeared on the ground. "Bill!" Bonnie exclaimed as she entered the yard. Horror was evident in her features. Carver has gone too far before, but this was above and beyond anything Bonnie could have ever anticipated. "That's enough Bill! He's your son!" This only fueled Bill as he continued to beat Keith. Bonnie finally knew of one way to stop Bill's bloodthirsty attack. "Bill, there's been a breach."

Carver stopped himself and looked up to Bonnie huffing hard from the violence he committed. Feeling satisfied, Bill dropped Keith's body on the ground and said, "Alright, everybody come with me. Bonnie, you stick around." Carver tossed the useless radio aside and headed for the door with the other guards. "Make sure these folks don't get into any more trouble."

"Yeah… okay." Bonnie said as she stared at Keith. She was stunned that Carver could have done anything like that.

Carver was about to head out when he turned around and addressed the group. "No supper for y'all tonight. Maybe an empty stomach'll give you some perspective… and we'll try this again tomorrow."

At this point, Clementine collapsed in Kenny's arms, sobbing over the brutality that her boyfriend endured. Kenny looked down sadly to the young girl and hugged her to try and bring her some comfort. Meanwhile, Carlos looked over the boy sadly.

"Do your best with him, Carlos." Bonnie said as she helped Nick up. Nick groaned in response as he got back on his feet. "You alright?"

"No, not really." Nick replied with a huff. "That asshole, Troy, knocked me back hard. I'm surprised he didn't break my jaw."

"Go sit down for a while." Bonnie said. Nick nodded doing as Bonnie asked of him and she looked to the doctor. "Carlos, you need to get him able to move because we're leaving here tonight." Everyone was shocked by what Bonnie said with exception of Clementine who was completely depressed by what happened to Keith. "We're leaving tonight." Bonnie repeated to make sure that she was clear to the group.

**Night Time**

Everyone waited as Carlos continued to look over Keith and tried to revive the boy with what little medical supplies that he smuggled out of Carver's medical center. Luke and Mike had finished talking to Bonnie about the escape plan and were returning to the fire pit. Sarita and Rebecca were doing all they could to comfort Clementine. Nick was looking down, angry with himself. He should have helped Keith back there but all he did was getting smacked by Troy's rifle. Luke and Mike walked back over and joined the group. "Well what'd she say?" Rebecca asked.

"She said that she can get us out of the pin if we can get the PA system going." Mike explained. "The second she hears that thing, she's going to run over here and spring us."

"That's great." Rebecca said.

"No, it's not." Luke said.

"What are you talking about?" Rebecca asked.

"Look, I know that part of this is my fault, I-I know." Luke said. "I got hungry, I got reckless stealing some food and I got caught."

"Brother, we can't stay here." Nick said.

"Exactly." Rebecca said. "Who knows how long Alvin's got till Bill just kills him. We have to leave now."

"Look, I know what y'all are saying, but it's risky." Luke said.

"Risky?" Mike inquired. "Did you see what that sonuvabitch did to his own f****** son? Look, the plan works. Nothing needs to change. It's all set up. The hard part is done. This f****** guy is crazy. Who knows what he'll do next."

"Yeah, but now we're dealing with a kid beaten to s***, Clementine is in no shape to go anywhere, and I'm a damn mess." Luke explained. "Look, we should just rest up, okay? We should bide our time, and we should wait for an opening."

"Bonnie's agreed to help us tonight." Mike said.

"And that doesn't mean she can't do it some OTHER night." Luke said.

"We're NOT waiting." Rebecca said.

"Ain't nothing out there guys." Luke said. "Trust me, I looked! There's no food, there's no supplies. The whole area is picked clean."

"We need to leave now." Kenny said. "It's only going get worse."

Carlos finished his evaluation and headed for the group. His expression was somber which was not good in the slightest.

"How is he?" Clementine asked tearfully.

"His orbital is crushed. I don't think there is much hope for the eye." Carlos explained. "I got him as stable as I could, cleaned it, got some of the swelling down, bandaged it as best I could… but until he wakes up, we won't know if there's any damage to the brain."

"No…" Clementine said tearfully as she looked down sadly and continued to cry. Once again, Sarita tried to comfort the child.

"F***." Mike said.

"Okay, look I might be playing devil's advocate here, but if… dammit if y'all are serious about goin tonight, then we're going to have to talk about maybe… leaving some folks behind."

Clementine shot up and exclaimed, "NO!"

"There is no other way." Luke said.

"This is bullshit." Rebecca snapped.

"I ain't leaving Keith behind." Nick added.

"Well, I don't like it either, but it's where we're at." Luke explained.

"NO!" Clementine shouted as she shot up from her seat. "I AM NOT LEAVING HIM BEHIND! He has always protected me! I love him and I am not going to leave him to die here! He has constantly put his life on the line and saved my life countless times!" Luke shook his head standing firm by his decision to leaving Keith to die at the community. "I'll carry him if I have to!"

"…You won't have to!" They all heard. Clementine was shocked to hear the voice and turned around to see Keith on his own two feet. His left eye was covered by the gauze and medical tape that Carlos use to keep any infections to infest the wound. "…Because…I can walk just fine." He then gave one of his trademark smiles.

Clementine smiled, overjoyed to see the boy again. She ran up and hugged him tightly. Keith hugged back and began to rock her as she said, "Never do that again."

"…I only needed to do it once." Keith replied. "I'm sorry."

Keith and Clementine separated and Keith looked to Clementine with a smile. "Good one, Boy Wonder." Nick said with a smile.

"Thanks, Batman." Keith said.

"You are one tough bastard." Mike remarked.

"I get it from my old man." Keith said somewhat proudly.

Everyone frowned and Kenny spoke up. "I didn't think that you wanted to ever speak about him again."

"I don't care what he does to me." Keith said. "He's my dad and I will always love him."

"Alright… what do we do now?" Luke asked.

"We get the hell out of here." Kenny said.

"Like now, now?" Luke asked.

"Yes." Rebecca replied.

"Where are we going? In case things get squirrelly and we got to make a break for it, we need a place where we can meet up." Kenny said.

"We could meet up at Parker's Run." Mike said.

"The hell is that?" Kenny asked.

"It's a Civil War site a couple miles north from here." Keith said. "It's a tourist trap so there's going to be signs all over."

"We stopped there after the first time we escaped." Rebecca explained. "Luke and Carlos know where it is. It's not that far." Luke and Carlos both gave a nod indicating that Rebecca was right.

"Well, at least if a few folks know where it's at, it'll be easier to find if we're split up." Kenny said. "Alright, that works."

"Okay, so all we need is someone to set off the PA, right?" Luke asked. "I mean you never bothered to explain who's supposed to do that."

In response, Rebecca, looked to Clementine which was followed by everyone else looking at her. She looked almost hesitant as Luke looked around to see everyone staring at her.

"Wait, wait, hold on. She's the plan?" Luke asked.

Clementine sighed and said, "I'm going to need a boost."

The group gathered around the wall as Clementine continued pull on the rope to get the winch. Clementine and Mike repeated the same process as last night except this time it was to get in Carver's office and not to get a set of walkie-talkies. Once again, the hook to the winch came down from the roof. Mike placed Clementine on the ground and grabbed the rope. As Rebecca started to explain the specific instructions to Carver's PA system. "Be sure to remember to flip the switch to the outdoor speakers. Just the indoor speakers might not draw the herd. It's right on the microphone box."

"Right." Clementine said as Mike kept her slightly off the ground with the use of the winch.

"By default it is set up to play music, so you should just have to turn it on, right? Then climb back up and drop down into the stockroom. We'll meet you there." Rebecca explained.

"Down into the office, outdoor speaker switch, turn on PA, up to the roof, and then down to the stockroom to meet you guys. That's right?" Clementine said.

"Perfect." Rebecca replied. Mike started to pull the rope on the other end and Clementine started to ascend to the roof through the use of the winch.

"Be careful, Babs." Nick said.

"I will and please come up with a new nickname." Clementine said with a playful smirk.

Nick only smirked and gave a shrug. Meanwhile Clementine neared the ladder, but Rebecca walked up next to Mike to get the child's attention. "Clem, make sure you bring Alvin." Rebecca said. Clementine nodded in response and grabbed onto the ladder. She then made her way up as the rest of the group waited and hoped that their plan would work.

* * *

Clementine reached the skylight that would allow her to drop down into Carver's office. She opened the skylight and dropped down on a set of lockers that were underneath the skylight. She dropped down from the lockers and looked over to Alvin. He received no medical treatment since she last saw him, and he remained unresponsive. "Alvin!" Clementine said.

She approached the beaten man and tried to shove him awake. "Alvin… are you okay? Please talk to me." The man remained unresponsive. Clementine was saddened, but she had to move on. The group was counting on her to get the PA system on.

She walked up to the PA system and immediately clicked on the external speakers to turn on. There was a loud ring which indicated the switch in the speakers. "Okay, now the mic…" Clementine said and she adjusted the volume, but nothing happened. "What? What's wrong?" Clementine asked as she adjusted the volume again. She looked around and her eyes rested on the CD receiver. She pressed play but nothing happened.

Clementine's eyes widened and she started to panic. "No, no, no, no!" Clementine exclaimed. She then opened the CD player to find that there was no disc inside. "No, where are they?" Clementine asked as she looked around. She then spotted one of the CD's and immediately placed it in the CD player. She pressed the play button and quickly went to microphone box. "Please, work, please." Clementine pleaded and she turned up the volume. She then heard the sound of recordings about the Fourth of July and Howe's product.

Clementine breathed a sigh of relief as she knew that her part was done. She saw Bonnie down below running for the yard to release the group from the yard. Clementine then heard some rustling from behind and turned around to see Alvin going through the Carver's desk. "Alvin? Are you okay?" Clementine exclaimed surprised but happy to see that he was up and moving.

Alvin finally pulled out a derringer handgun and chuckled, "Carver talks all that tough guy shit… but keeps the tinniest gun in the universe… something funny about that." Clementine went over to the window and saw something that horrified her. Carver and his men were at the far side of the warehouse. They quickly dispersed with Carver heading towards the yard.

"Come on, we got to get out of here." Clementine said.

Alvin coughed and said, "I ain't fit to move kid. I've… I've run out of road."

Clementine looked down sadly knowing that Alvin was right. He didn't have any strength left. "Let's… No, I'll-I'll just go up there and shut that thing off!" Clementine heard a familiar voice say. It was Hank, the guard from earlier that was fed up with Troy's attitude.

"You got to get out of here. They'll be here any second." Alvin said.

Clementine looked up sadly and said, "Thank you…" Clementine then ran toward the lockers to escape the office through the skylight.

"You take care of my girls…" Alvin coughed. Clementine looked back to Alvin as he continued. "I get the feeling that it's-it's going to be a girl. Just a hunch" Clementine nodded and she climbed back up to the skylight.

Suddenly, Hank ran in. Both men fired their guns and both were shot dead. Clementine looked to Alvin's corpse sadly as she proceeded to climb up to the skylight.

On the roof, Clementine could see the horde of walkers heading right for Howe's. She immediately left for the stockroom skylight as she heard the door to the roof being opened. She opened the skylight as automatic gunfire erupted a few feet from her.

She descended onto the shelf that she used to get the walkie-talkie the other night and heard Carver's voice. "You wanna disrespect me, fine. You wanna throw away the life… I'm trying to build for us, then f****** fine." Clementine immediately descended onto one of the shelves and approached Carver as he continued to rant. She stayed out of sight while Carver continued to pace in front of the group with an assault rifle at the ready. "You wanna run off with this dogshit group of crippled f****, then fine! Be my guest." Finally, Clementine was underneath Carver as he raised his rifle threateningly towards Rebecca. "But I will put a bullet into you and that baby before I let you-"

Carver couldn't finish his sentence as Clementine dropped down and made the leader stumble towards the group. Kenny punched Carver which stunned him and Luke wrestled the gun from him. "Get back!" Luke hissed. Clementine rejoined the group as they lowered their hands and some retrieved the weapons that they were carrying when they were captured.

"Come on, Luke." Carver said as he raised his hands in surrender. "This ain't none of your business.

"Clem… where? Why isn't Alvin with you? Where is he?" Rebecca asked.

In response, Clementine looked down sadly. Rebecca's eyes widened in horror and in sadness. "Alvin…" Rebecca said sadly.

"My gosh… Rebecca, I'm so, so sorry." Luke said remorsefully.

"Kill him." Rebecca hissed.

Luke was shocked by what he heard as Carver said, "Rebecca, Rebecca, sweetie, my gosh... How did we get here? You and me? This is just a bit of a custody battle we got on our hands here."

"We should tie him up." Clementine suggested.

"Yeah, yeah, okay do we got any rop-?" Luke asked but was interrupted by loud bang and Carver shouting in pain. Carver stumbled from the shot to his left knee and he tried to regain his balance.

Clementine and Luke were shocked by the shot and looked over to see who the shooter was. It was Keith! His precise aim allowed Keith another precise shot in the other knee. Carver yelled in pain again and he collapsed on the ground.

Keith lowered his handgun and said, "Go on and wait outside." At this point, everyone looked to Keith horrified as he continued, "Go on, I only need a minute. None of you need to see this. This was something that I should have done a long time ago. Maybe then, so many people could have been spared."

Some of the member obliged and Mike went up to open the garage door. "We have to go." Carlos said.

"Keith, please don't do this." Clementine pleaded.

"I have to. I'm his son. It's my responsibility… to do what needs to be done." Keith replied.

…**To be continued.**

**A/N: Aha! Cliffhanger, one of the writer's favorite tools!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I go back to college this upcoming week, so updating is going to slow down at the least. Also, you guys are going to hate me in this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Carver chuckled on the ground and said, "That girlfriend of yours has seen more than you can imagine."

"Shut your mouth Bill!" Luke exclaimed. Luke then looked around and asked, "Y'all just going to let him do this?"

"Yes!" Rebecca hissed.

"There ain't any part of that son of a bitch that I don't hate, but that still doesn't make this right!" Luke said.

"No, you're wrong." Nick said as Luke looked to him shocked by what his friend said. "What's going to stop him from coming back and killing more of our group? We need to kill him now."

"Nick, do you even hear yourself, brother?" Luke exclaimed. "This isn't what Pete would have wanted!"

"Look at you... f****** ingrates. You don't even know how good you got it." Carver spat out. At this point, Sarah, Carlos, and Luke headed for the door, not wanting to watch what would happen next. "But don't worry, in time, you'll all learn... Lambs to the slaughter... No shepherd to guide you. Clementine knows exactly what I'm talking about."

Kenny and Sarita approached Clementine and urged her to come with them. "Come on, darlin." Kenny said. "Like I said before, Keith knows what he's doing." Clementine nodded and the three started to walk away.

"Oh come on, Clementine. Don't be like that." Carver said. "I know you want to watch the show."

"Come on. Let's go." Sarita said as she urged the girl to move forward. Clementine obliged, leaving Keith, Nick, and Rebecca to deal with Carver.

"Yeah, go on. Let the sheep out of the pin." Carver said. "We'll see how long that lasts."

"I'll be right there." Rebecca said as she stared down at Carver.

"I'm staying too." Nick said.

Keith looked down to his father who continued to mutter insults, "So, how's that eye? Just follow my voice… it'll get you there." Keith got on his knees so that he was staring at his father. "You got a thick f****** skull, Keith Blake. I should have taken you out of your misery right then… now look at you. You're a mess." Carver then chuckled and said. "If I would have known that beating you nearly to death would bring the beast out of you, I would have done it a long time ago."

Keith sighed, and in one movement, he hugged his father tightly. "What are you doing?" Carver hissed as he tried to break free from the boy's grip. "I beat you nearly death… you-you should be doing the same thing to me!" Carver continued to try to break free, but he needed to use his right hand to maintain his balance which meant he could only use his left hand in a hopeless attempt to break free. "Get off me!"

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8: 38 and 39." Keith said as he continued to hug the man. Carver huffed as the words sunk in. Keith's voice started to crack and he separated from the hug to continue, "You still have that love inside of you. Part of you is still William Carver, a loving husband and father. I know that even though you have killed so many people that God still loves you. Mom still loves you…" Keith looked to Carver as tears flowed from both of their eyes. It was over; Bill Carver wasn't in control any more. Keith was looking straight into the eyes of his father for the first time in years. "…And I still love you."

At this, William hugged his son and cried. "My gosh… Keith, what have I done? Erin? Derrick? Reggie? Alvin? They were- they were good people…" Nick and Rebecca looked on to the scene no longer seeking vengeance but instead were shocked and slightly saddened by William's recovery from insanity. William pulled back his own son and looked to him with tears running down from his eyes. "What have I done? I nearly killed my son."

"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace. Ephesians 1:7." Keith said. "I love you, I just want to hear you say that one more time."

"I-I-I do. I love you, son." William said as he wrapped his arms around the boy and rocked him as Keith supported the both of them. "I love you, I love you, I love you."

"I knew you were in there somewhere." Keith said. He then reached for his 8 mm handgun which was on the ground next to him as Rebecca and Nick looked on in horror. "I love you, never forget that." Keith whispered as he angled the gun and pulled the trigger.

There was a loud bang and Keith immediately dropped his gun to grab onto his father's coat. He proceeded to gently lay his father's corpse to ground and closed his eye lids. Keith looked down sadly and sighed in respect to his father. He prayed a silent prayer as Nick and Rebecca looked on worriedly to the boy.

"Keith, are you okay?" Rebecca asked worriedly.

Keith opened his eyes and smiled to the two. "I feel better than I have been, for so long. My dad isn't suffering anymore. He is finally at peace. I know that you both hated him for what he has done, but just like you saw, my dad wasn't always bad."

"Let's go." Nick said. Keith obliged and the two headed for the door.

Meanwhile, Rebecca grabbed William's gun and said, "William, don't worry about anything. Your son is in good hands. Nick and I and the rest of the group will do all we can to look after him." She then walked towards the exit of the warehouse.

* * *

The three that exited the warehouse were greeted with a shocking surprise. They were completely surrounded by the walkers, when they originally thought that the walkers were going to slam on the other side of the Howe's. Automatic gunfire could be heard from the other side.

Nick hopped down and helped Keith to the ground as Luke helped Rebecca get down.

"Shit." Kenny said. "I thought they were coming from the south." Kenny remarked.

"They did…" Rebecca said as she observed the horde of walkers. "Looks like we're in the eye of it now."

"What do we do?" Nick asked Jane.

"We let them come to us." Jane replied, confidence lacing her voice.

"F***!" Mike exclaimed as he started to panic. "This is so f*****!"

"Here, you're going to need something the protect yourself." Luke said as he handed Keith a survival knife.

"Thanks." Keith said as several walkers approached them. Keith approached one of the walkers and sliced one of its legs so it would lose its balance and fall on the ground. He quickly followed with a thrust to its skull. The walker fell dead and Keith took his knife out.

Meanwhile, the others had finished with the stragglers that ignored the automatic gunfire from the other side of the building. Jane got in front of one of the walker and sliced it open. She quickly slathered some of the walker's entrails on her as she explained, "You guys better hurry up and get to smearing if you wanna live. Or you can die here… it won't matter to me." The group nodded and everyone started to cut up their own walkers and smeared the entrails on their clothes.

Keith got down in front of the walker that he had managed to kill and stabbed the walker. He dragged the knife up to the walker's throat and grabbed some of the entrails. He smeared them on himself as Clementine watched on. "Alright, your turn." Keith said as he felt satisfied that the walker's blood would hide his human scent.

Clementine nodded. She was hesitant to go through this process again, especially without Lee looking over her this time. Keith started to smear the walker's entrails on Clementine as she closed her eyes in disgust. "Are you done?" Clementine asked.

"Almost." Keith said. "Go ahead and turn around. I'll get your back." Clementine obliged and Keith started to smear the entrails on her back. The herd was getting closer which started making some of the other group members worry. Keith finished rubbing the walker's guts on Clementine. She was now unrecognizable to the walkers but Keith wasn't. His back was an obvious weak spot.

Nick walked over and said, "Here, I'll get your back." Keith nodded and Nick started to apply some of the walker's entrails on his back.

Nick finished as Kenny said, "We don't have all day here. Everybody ready?" Kenny then looked out to the herd that was limping towards the group. "They're almost on top of us."

Suddenly, everyone heard the voice of a heartless guard, someone that Keith, Clementine, and Nick dreaded to hear. "What in the actual f*** is going on here?" Troy exclaimed as he approached the group with his assault rifle at the ready. "What is this sick shit? Someone start explaining before I start-"

Luke reached for his assault rifle but Troy spotted him out of the corner of his eye. Troy whipped around and aimed his assault rifle at Luke. "HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY! Don't even f****** think about it, motherf******!" Troy bellowed.

"Clementine, turn around." Nick said with angry grunt. Clementine nodded and looked to Keith to avoid looking at Troy. Nick glared at the guard and approached him with his knife at the ready.

"I will end you!" Troy ranted as he held rifle close to Luke's skull. "Do you hear me?"

Nick was finally close enough to Troy to attack. Troy noticed Nick out of the corner of his eyes, but it was too late. Troy tried to swing the rifle towards Nick, but Nick acted quickly and stabbed Troy in the chest.

"Holy shit, Nick!" Luke exclaimed.

Nick pushed Troy back into the wall and started to drag the knife down the rest of his body. Meanwhile, Troy coughed out blood and begged for mercy, but Nick was relentless. Nick finished the cut as the walkers started going past the group and headed for Troy. Nick glared at the dying man and said, "That was for Clementine and Keith. Good-bye and good riddance." Nick then left Troy for the walkers which tore him apart even more.

Nick's face was now covered in spots with the blood of the man whom he had savagely murdered. Luke looked to him worriedly but Nick only gestured for them to move on. Luke nodded and they tried to catch up with the group. By now, Carver's group was aiming at the herd that had started to congregate on the other side.

Meanwhile, Clementine and Keith were trying to keep up with Carlos and Sarah. Sarah was starting to whimper due to the walkers being so close to her. She was panicking. Keith and Clementine continued weave in and out of the walkers' paths and the bullets that were flying everywhere. "Where's Bill?" One of the guards exclaimed. "We need him up here."

"Clem, we got to keep moving." Keith whispered.

Clementine nodded and she walked behind Keith, keeping up with the boy. She looked to the boy with a strange look. She remembered him being two inches shorter than her when they first met, but now they stood at the same height. Her thoughts were interrupted with Sarah's constant whimpering and Carlos saying, "Shh… quiet honey." Despite her father's words, Sarah continued to panic. "Clementine, Keith, come help me. Calm her down, please just say something. You're her friends."

Keith and Clementine didn't know what to say as Sarah continued to panic. "Clementine, Keith-" Carlos was about to say but he yelled in pain as he was hit in the shoulder.

"DAD!" Sarah exclaimed as Carlos stumbled a couple of steps forward. The smell of fresh blood alerted the walkers nearby and they attacked the doctor. He yelled out in a dying scream as the walkers started to eat him. "DAAAAAD!" Sarah shouted in horror as her father was devoured by swarm of walkers.

The girl's scream alerted the other walkers around them. Keith and Clementine readied themselves with a couple of walkers taking notice of them. Sarita noticed what happened and stabbed a walker from behind that was approaching Sarah. Keith slashed a walker's leg and finished with a slash across the skull. Another walker approached Clementine but was shot down by Bonnie.

Sarah continued to cry as more and more walkers started to approach the three. "Sarah, get a hold of yourself!" Keith whispered as another walker approached him. He growled as he slashed the walker's leg. He then stabbed the walker.

Clementine looked to see another walker approaching her and Sarah. Clementine turned around and asked, "Sarah, did you-" However, Clementine couldn't finish her sentence. Sarah bolted away as the walker was on top of Clementine. Clementine did a quick slash with the hatchet in her hand.

Keith ran towards her and said, "Clem behind you." Clementine looked to see a walker approaching her. It growled as it tried to grab her but her quick reflexes allowed her to avoid the walker's grasp. The walker easily lost its balance after failing to catch Clementine which allowed Keith a quick slash with his knife. This stunned the walker as it fell to the ground. Keith approached the walker and finished it off with his knife.

Clementine heard another growl as another walker approached her. It stumbled towards her as she raised her hatchet to attack. The walker was finally in range and she slashed the walker with the hatchet. However yet another walker was stumbling towards her, but she couldn't deal with the approaching walker. Her hatchet was stuck in the previous walker's skull. Clementine desperately tried to yank it out and eventually became successful with a slash across the approaching walker's skull.

Keith ran over to her and asked, "You alright? Sorry, I was busy back there."

"I'm fine." Clementine replied. Both were interrupted by a scream. They ran towards the source of the scream with Keith lagging behind.

Clementine found the source of the screaming which was Sarita who had a walker biting her wrist. Clementine looked horrified to see the woman struggling with the walker. "Clem!" Sarita exclaimed. Clementine shook her head out of her daze and quickly slashed the walker that was chomping down on her wrist. Keith finally caught up and huffed as Sarita looked on horrified by what happened. "I…I'm bit. Oh my word. I'm bit." Sarita said. "Clementine, Keith, it bit me. I'm dead."

"You have to stay calm. They'll notice you." Clementine said.

"It doesn't matter… I'm bit." Sarita said.

"We'll figure something out." Keith said. "But we can't do anything here."

"Sarita!" Kenny exclaimed as he and Mike approached the three. They looked over to see Mike kill a walker and Kenny rush to Sarita's aid. Kenny looked down to see a bite mark on Sarita's wrist. He looked on horrified as he recalled all of the memories of what happened to Duck.

Mike walked up and immediately saw the bite. "She's been bit. She's-" Mike said.

"She's going to be okay." Kenny interrupted Mike. Kenny then turned to Sarita and said, "You're going to be okay. Come on! We have to move. We have to!" Kenny then grabbed Sarita's hand and he led them through the herd. Mike followed the two but the herd's numbers separated Clementine and Keith. Even worse, Keith was having a hard time keeping up.

"Hey, are you okay?" Clementine asked as she turned around to look at the boy huffing with his hands on his knees.

Keith looked up and saw a walker heading towards them. "…Move." Keith mumbled.

"What?" Clementine asked as the walker got closer.

"Move!" Keith exclaimed as he pushed her away from the walker. He quickly stabbed the walker in the skull to which it fell limp on top of the boy.

Clementine quickly rushed to his aid and pushed the walker off of him. He huffed as he laid on the ground. "You're not okay." Clementine said.

"…Unfortunately… no, I'm not." Keith said as he tried to get up. He was successful but he threatened to fall. "I'm good… for now." Keith said.

He went over to the walker stabbed it in the chest. He dragged the knife down as Luke exclaimed, "I'm going after Sarah!"

Nick stumbled out of the chaos and tried to follow Luke, but the herd's numbers separated them. He quickly stabbed a couple more walkers as Keith rubbed the dead walker's entrails on himself. He then rubbed some on Clementine. "Okay… we should be… good now."

Clementine nodded and followed Keith's lead. Unfortunately, they both lost sight of Nick and would have to get out of the herd by themselves.

Suddenly, Clementine was grabbed from behind. She struggled and thrashed in the person's grip. Keith continued through the herd but was soon cut off by the immense numbers of the walkers. He looked back to see Rebecca holding onto Clementine.

Keith approached them as Rebecca exclaimed, "Stop!" She released Clementine from her grip. "Thank goodness." The three crouched down to avoid being hit by bullets and to discuss a new strategy.

"We can't find anyone." Clementine said.

"I know." Rebecca said. "What do we do?"

"We got to get out of this herd… and fast." Keith explained.

"Keith, are you alright?" Rebecca asked.

"No, I…I'm getting lightheaded." Keith said. "I might be going into shock…"

"Then we can't stay here." Clementine said. "We got to keep moving."

Rebecca was somewhat conflicted by the decision. On the one hand, she wanted to get out of the herd, but on the other, she was paralyzed by fear by the size of the herd. She looked over to Howe's and said, "Look. The walkers are still moving towards the hardware store. We can make it out if we stick toget-" Rebecca then released a pained grunt. The baby was coming soon. She breathed heavily to relax and said, "I'm glad you are here."

"It's going to be okay. We're going to make it." Clementine said to encourage her two allies who were at the moment struggling physically.

"Okay." Rebecca replied.

"I'm going to try and… find us an opening." Keith said. He looked out to the large crowd of walkers and quickly took notice of a few trees. "There's the forest. Let's go." Keith said as he struggled to stand upright. He approached the woods with Clementine and Rebecca following him.

However, the walkers quickly blocked off the trees which stopped the three. "Dammit!" Rebecca exclaimed. "Go back, go back."

Keith growled as he knew that he didn't have much strength left. Nonetheless, he retreated and turned around to see Clementine bump into Jane.

Clementine gasped upon bumping into Jane, thinking that the woman was a walker. Clementine looked up to the woman and said, "Jane."

"Jane, thank goodness." Rebecca said.

"Stop." Jane hissed. "Relax." She then headed for the group of walkers that the three tried to get through earlier. "You need to walk…. SLOWLY. You'll be fine."

"I can't do this." Rebecca said as panic started to overwhelm her. She walked towards a couple of trees that provided sanctuary from the herd's assault. Clementine and Keith walked into the trees with Rebecca. "You have to help us… please."

"We can't clump together like this." Jane said. "It would be better if we spread out. You three will be fine…" Jane walked from the three.

"No, you don't understand." Rebecca said. "Just stay with us… please."

"We should stay together." Clementine said. "It's safer that way."

"Wrong, the exact opposite is true." Jane replied as she continued to make her way through the herd. Jane left the three as Rebecca started to panic. She has never experienced a herd of this size, even worse, two lives were dependent on her to make it through the herd, hers and her baby's. She squatted down and was starting to hyperventilate. Clementine and Keith didn't know what to do and Keith was worried that he was running out of time and that he would pass out any second now.

Jane looked back to the three and cursed in defeat. She returned to them and explained, "We'll have to push through that cluster of walkers."

Jane looked to the large herd as Rebecca said, "There's too many."

"We'll make a cow-catcher." Jane said as she looked around.

"A what?" Clementine asked.

"You'll see." Jane said. She looked up and her eyes widened. "There." Jane said as she gestured to a female walker. "That one will be easy to carry. I'm going to get on the far side of her." Jane continued as she headed out of the brush. "I need you to get her attention."

Clementine nodded and she approached the walker. After several seconds, Jane appeared in front of the walker. "Hey. Over here." Clementine said. The walker turned around and growled at her. It approached her with outstretched arms as Clementine prepared herself to fight against the walker.

However, the walker was grabbed from behind by Jane. Jane slashed the walker's lower jaw off with her survival knife. "Not going to bite anybody now, are you?" Jane said to the walker. She looked to her allies and said, "Stay close." She then looked towards the herd of walkers that they would have to go through. Clementine helped Keith up as he huffed heavily. "If you fall behind, I can't come back for you." Jane led the way with Rebecca close behind, followed by Clementine, and finally Keith who was doing everything he could to keep up with his fellow survivors.

Jane pushed through the herd with the use of the captured walker. Thankfully, the plan worked; the surrounding walkers ignored the four survivors and instead they limped towards the fortified hardware store. Jane pushed the captured walker on the ground and stabbed it in the back of the skull as Clementine, Rebecca, and Keith looked back to Howe's one last time. "Let's go." Jane said. With that, the four survivors headed into the woods where they were met with a cold rainstorm that cleaned off most, if not all of the walker guts.

**Morning**

The four survivors continued to walk down a trail that would lead to Parker's Run. Jane kept up a strong pace, but Clementine and Rebecca struggled to keep up. Rebecca struggled because she was late in her pregnancy and Clementine struggled because she was trying to help her boyfriend to keep up.

Clementine looked to Keith and asked, "Are you going to be alright?"

"…Yeah… I just… need to lie down… for a couple of hours…. Stay warm." Keith huffed.

"It'll be better once we get with the others." Rebecca said. "I need to make sure everyone else made it out. Luke… Sarah… Nick… Kenny. Dammit! What if they aren't there?" Rebecca started to panic again but this time it was out of fear for the safety of her friends.

"If they aren't… then there is nothing we can do about it." Jane said coldly.

"Don't even say things like that." Rebecca scolded the woman.

"Fine! Sorry." Jane said.

"Shit, I don't even know if we're safe." Rebecca said as she turned around. "What if the herd is still following us?"

"We're fine." Jane said.

"It's been quiet, but who knows." Rebecca said.

"It's been at least an hour since I saw any walkers." Clementine said.

"Carver's people should be keeping them busy for a while." Jane said.

"That'd be lucky." Rebecca remarked. She then winced upon feeling a small bump. The baby was kicking again, but this time not as hard. Rebecca looked to Clementine and Keith and said, "I know I should feel glad that we escaped, but I just can't stop thinking about the others." Rebecca showed a look of remorse and said, "How could I leave Alvin behind…? It was stupid."

"What was? Escaping?" Jane asked.

"Look, I know that we all agreed to use the herd to get out, but…" Rebecca said as she started to trail off. "Maybe we could have come up with something better."

"It worked!" Jane snapped.

"If you call that working!" Rebecca exclaimed. "We should have… I don't know!"

"We did the best we could do…" Keith huffed.

"We ran out of time." Clementine said. "I wish we could have gotten Alvin out too, but we couldn't stay another day with Carver."

"Look, I know that some of your people didn't make it, but Carver was crazy." Jane said. "Staying would have only prolonged the inevitable." Jane then sent a slight glare towards Keith and continued, "And I still don't like the fact that we still have Carver with us."

"I'm not… my dad." Keith huffed; he was now starting to drag his feet. The combination of shock and exhaustion were starting to overwhelm him.

"He's a friend, Jane. He helped us escape. If you don't like him, then you can just leave." Clementine said angrily.

Jane was shocked by what the young girl said and replied, "Okay, sorry. No need to bite my head off." She continued and said, "I'm just saying that if people hadn't panicked, things would have gone a lot better."

"Of course we panicked!" Rebecca exclaimed. "We were scared!"

"The plan was good." Jane said. "The execution was the messy part."

"That sounds an awful lot like you're saying it was their fault." Rebecca accused.

"What? No! That's not what I'm saying." Jane said. "Just…" Jane trailed off as the group continued to walk down the path.

Clementine was practically carrying Keith at this point and she looked to her allies. "We need to stop."

Rebecca grunted as she felt a hard kick within her stomach. "Yeah, we do." Rebecca said as Clementine lowered Keith to the ground so that he was laying on his back. "I'm sorry. I don't want to slow us down. I just need a moment."

"That's fine. The kid ain't doing too hot either." Jane remarked as she looked to Keith.

Clementine felt his forehead and said, "You're cold."

"That's normal…" Keith mumbled. "When you… start going into shock… you become cold… and clammy."

Clementine could hear Rebecca crying and looked to her. She looked down to Keith as he said, "Go ahead… I'll be fine." Keith rolled up into a small ball on the ground so that he could conserve some form of warmth for himself.

Meanwhile, Clementine walked over to Rebecca as she said, "Alvin was supposed to be here for this."

"Is Alvin…?" Jane asked.

"He's dead is what he is." Rebecca snapped. "Thanks to stupid Bill."

"Kenny might know what to do." Clementine said. "He had a family once."

"Maybe…" Jane said. She looked to Rebecca and asked, "What are you going to do with it?"

"What do you mean by that?" Rebecca snapped.

"Uh, sorry, just trying to make conversation." Jane said. "It was nothing."

"No, what do you mean by that?" Rebecca inquired as she approached Jane with a scowl. "Do with what? My baby?"

"I'm just looking at the worst case scenario." Jane said. "You and Clem won't be able to raise a baby by yourselves. Not out here."

"We can and Keith will help us." Clementine said.

"Not happening." Jane said to Clementine and then looked to Keith who had fallen asleep. "That kid has a day at the most. He's not going to survive. In fact, I'm surprised that he hasn't died yet."

"And you assume that I won't be capable enough." Rebecca said as she glared at Jane. "Just because you're some angry loner who doesn't give a shit for anyone but herself, doesn't mean you know better than me."

"Hey!" Jane exclaimed at the insult.

"And you don't know that boy. He's stronger than you will ever hope to be." Rebecca continued.

"Oh yeah, well don't come crying to me when he turns, which he's probably turning as we speak!" Jane said. "I've seen this happen before, when me and my sister Jaime-"

"What? She die?" Rebecca snapped. Jane's eyes widened from the harshness of the older woman. "I don't need your pity?"

"You don't…" Jane hissed with an intense glare. "You don't have the right…" Jane stormed off, leaving both Rebecca and Clementine surprised.

"Jane." Clementine said to get the woman's attention.

"Shit, I didn't mean it…" Rebecca said remorsefully. "Shit."

"Jane, wait…" Clementine said. However, Jane ignored Clementine and continued to walk further down the trail.

"Dammit." Rebecca said.

Clementine looked to Keith and went to the boy. She shook him awake as he mumbled, "Time to move on?"

"Yeah, come on." Clementine said as she helped the boy to his feet. They continued their walk in the forest with Jane further ahead.

"If memory serves right, we shouldn't be far from Parker's Run right now." Rebecca said.

After passing by a bit of brush, the group came to a clearing where a destroyed monument stood with a statue of a soldier picking up and carrying another soldier in the center of the monument. In the distance stood Bonnie, Nick, and Mike talking amongst themselves.

"Looks like we're here." Jane remarked. The three survivors walked towards the monument as Keith dragged his feet and was supported by Clementine.

…**To be continued.**

**A/N: YES! Two of my least favorite characters in The Walking Dead are gone. Good-bye Troy and Carlos. I should mention that despite how many people do hate Carver, I do enjoy him as an excellent villain. He had an achievable goal, he was a very difficult villain to beat, and he maimed one of the most popular Walking Dead characters.**

**Now you're probably wanting explanation about what happened back there and how William came out of the grip of insanity. I have one verse for you:**

**Philippians 4:13 I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: This chapter is going to be more of a filler chapter, so… yeah, you're going to die of boredom.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

"We can't just sit here doing nothing." Mike said as Jane, Rebecca, Clementine, and Keith approached him, Bonnie, and Nick. Next to the arguing three was a small portion of a wall that has long since been destroyed by the Civil War and the elements.

"I agree, most of my people are still out there." Nick explained. "I need to go find them."

"I'm sorry, Nick, but I think we should wait here." Bonnie said. "We all agreed to regroup here if we got separated."

Mike looked from Bonnie and Nick arguing on the next course of action and saw the four approaching. "Holy shit." Mike said.

Nick and Bonnie looked over to see the four with both of them shocked to see Keith leaning on Clementine and struggling to keep up.

"Keith, are you alright?" Bonnie asked as Nick squatted down to Clementine's and Keith's height.

"Are you both okay?" Nick asked. "Here, I can take over for you." Nick took the boy from Clementine's shoulder and held him in a carrying position, with one arm under the boy's back and the other under his knees.

Keith immediately fell asleep in Nick's grasp as Clementine said, "I'm alright. Keith's in shock, though."

"Dammit." Nick said. "Okay, does anyone know what to do?" Nick looked around to his fellow group members who merely shrug until his eyes rested on Clementine.

"Keith told me that he just needs to rest and stay warm." Clementine said.

"Okay." Nick said as got up from the ground. "I'll take him into that tent. That should keep the wind chill off of him." Nick left the group with Keith in his arms.

"This memorial works great for a meeting spot, but we can't stay here long-term." Mike said.

"I told you that's why we're waiting." Bonnie explained. Clementine then noticed Kenny with Sarita on resting on his lap. She was extremely pale and seemed to be in the advanced stages of turning. Clementine cringed at the sight of the woman as she reminded her of her late friend, Duck. "And as soon as everyone else gets here, we'll figure something out."

"You wanted to leave without us?" Rebecca asked.

"What? No, I wanted to go out and find some people." Mike explained.

"What does Kenny want to do?" Clementine asked Mike and Bonnie.

The two looked to each other as if hesitant to explain the situation. Mike nodded and he looked back to Clementine. "I tried to talk to Kenny but he flipped out. Started yelling scary shit." Mike explained.

"I know he probably didn't mean it. But it was scary." Bonnie explained. She looked back to Kenny as he comforted Sarita. Everyone followed her line of vision and they watched Kenny.

"I hate to say it." Mike said. "But Sarita is on her way out. She's going to turn soon."

"Is, uh… is he going to take care of her?" Jane asked.

"Jane!" Rebecca snapped.

"I know it's not pretty, but it's better than the alternative." Jane explained.

"I've seen Kenny like this before." Clementine said.

"How'd it go last time?" Jane asked.

"My… my guardian Lee had to do it for him." Clementine explained. Jane looked over to Kenny, not content with the reply.

"Hey, Clem." Clementine looked to Bonnie as she slouched down to Clementine's height. "I was thinking now that you're here, maybe you could go talk to him?"

Clementine hesitated for a second and sighed. "…I don't think that's a good idea."

"I know, Clem, but you're the only person who can talk to him." Bonnie said.

"No… he got very aggressive back at Howe's when he heard about Keith and I were dating. I got mad at him and he slapped me for it. How do you think he's going to react now?" Clementine explained.

"Well, he ain't to hurt you." Bonnie said. "I won't let him." Bonnie placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Clementine looked to Bonnie as she continued, "If he does lash out at you… I'll put him down. Simple as that."

Clementine nodded hesitantly and replied, "…Okay." She started to walk towards Kenny as the group watched on. Bonnie held her assault rifle in position in case Kenny had any ideas to harm Clementine.

Clementine approached Kenny as he continued to comfort Sarita. "It's alright, Sarita. It's going to be okay. I'm going to be here for you, right to the end."

Clementine looked down to Sarita and was slightly scared by how close she was to turning. "Hi, Kenny." Clementine said to get Kenny's attention.

Kenny looked up and glared at the girl in response. "You think I don't know what y'all are whispering about over there?" Kenny spat as the group made their way towards some former visitor benches. Bonnie remained where she stood with the rifle in her hands. "I said that I just wanted a little f****** time alone to say good-bye." Sarita started to wheeze as Kenny looked down to the woman. "Shhhh, shhhh, shhh, it's okay babe. It's okay. We're gonna get through this. We're gonna do what we gotta do." Kenny said as he comforted the dying woman.

"Kenny, I'm so sorry about Sarita-" Clementine said but was interrupted by Kenny.

"You hear that babe? Clem says that she's sorry. Don't that make you feel better?" Kenny said as he looked back up to Clementine with a glare. Sarita groaned as if to stop Kenny from getting angry at Clementine.

"There was nothing I could do." Clementine said.

"Seeing how things turned out, I think I might've preferred you do nothing." Kenny hissed. Clementine jumped in response as Kenny kept a constant death glare towards her.

"I tried to save her!" Clementine exclaimed.

"Look at her." Kenny hissed. Clementine was surprised by the command and Kenny continued, "I said look at her." Clementine hesitantly obliged and she looked to Sarita. "She's going to die… because of you." Clementine looked up to Kenny somewhat terrified as Kenny bellowed, "You think just because you're a little girl you can get people killed and no one will care?" Clementine jumped from the accusation as Kenny got progressively louder. "That because you're 'sorry' it'll all magically go away? That's not how it works!" At this point, Clementine was hugging her arms out of fear. Kenny seemed to be calming down and he said, "Now for the last time, just leave us alone to say good-bye."

Clementine obliged and she left the man to rejoin the group. Bonnie followed close behind, visibly relieved that she didn't have to shoot Kenny.

"I'm going crazy just sitting here not doing anything." Mike said to Bonnie as she and Clementine approached the three.

"Just give it time, Mike." Bonnie said. "It's still early."

Rebecca turned to Clementine and asked, "Clem, how'd it go?"

"It doesn't matter." Clementine replied. "We need to come up with a plan." Nick had finally left the tent and returned to the group. Clementine looked to the young man and asked, "Is Keith alright?"

"Yeah, he just needs some rest. Dammit, I wish we had a doctor with us or something." Nick said.

"Yeah, I think we all wish that." Rebecca said as she placed her hands on her bulging stomach.

"How're you feeling?" Nick asked.

"I'm alright." Rebecca said. "Right now, we need to focus on finding the rest of our group."

"Right, we're going to need everyone, especially with that baby on the way." Bonnie explained.

Nick looked over to Kenny and back to the group. "Well, has anyone talked him or done anything?"

"Clem did, but I don't think it worked too well." Mike explained.

"Are you f******* kidding me?" Nick inquired. "You made her talk to that psycho, alone?"

"No, no!" Mike exclaimed and raised his hands in surrender. "Bonnie stayed close by, just in case Kenny was to… snap."

Nick relaxed and said, "Okay, good. So does anyone know what we're going to do now?" Nick asked. "This place isn't going to do us any good. No food, no water, pretty damn cold, and we're losing daylight fast."

"When the others get back, they'll know what to do." Bonnie said. "Luke'll have a plan."

"Yeah, somehow, he always does." Nick replied. "I'll keep an eye on our perimeter and check Keith every once in a while."

"That'd be good." Rebecca said. "Thanks Nick." Nick nodded and grabbed his hunting rifle that was leaning against the monument. He headed for the woods as the rest of the group continued to discuss a plan.

"Well one thing's for sure. We can't just sit here." Jane said. "Things are difficult enough right now and soon you'll have a baby on your hands, too."

"This was the meeting place." Clementine said. "We should try to stay here and keep this place safe."

"Clementine's right." Rebecca said. "If we leave here, they'll never find us."

"Okay, fine, in the meantime, I'll take Clem and we can look that way." Jane said as she gestured to the forest that they came out of not too long ago. "See if we can find them."

"Wait, why Clem?" Bonnie asked. "Why don't you ask Nick? He's itching to find his friends."

"Clem took care of herself back at Carver's and didn't become a deranged lunatic that nearly sliced a man in half." Jane said. "I want her watching my back." Clementine joined alongside Jane and she continued. "If they're alive, they can't be far. We can find them… one way or the other."

"Thank you." Rebecca said to the loner.

Jane looked over to Kenny with a worried face and looked back to Rebecca. "Listen Rebecca, if anything goes wrong here… you got something to protect yourself?"

I've got this." Rebecca said as she pulled out William's revolver. "You don't think I need to…?"

"I don't know, but you better keep that close." Jane said. She then looked to Clementine and said, "Come on, Clem." Clementine obliged and the two started to leave the camp. As they left, Jane looked to the statue of a man carrying another man. The symbolism of the statue spurred many unwanted memories, and as a result, the loner shook her head hoping to forget them. She continued to walk with Clementine and headed for the woods, hoping to find the missing group members.

* * *

Clementine and Jane continued to walk through the forest on a trail that was used for tourism purposes, but now it was abandoned and left to Mother Nature. Clementine looked around frantically trying to find her missing friends. "Look, I'm going to level with you." Jane said which interrupted Clementine's search for her friends. "I was just looking for an excuse to get out of there for a bit. And… you should know that finding your friends… That's a shot in the dark."

A couple of crows could be heard off in the distance, shouting out their dreaded cry as the two continued to walk down the abandoned trail. "I don't know about that. We shouldn't give up before we even looked." Clementine said.

"Okay but… I wanted to talk to you, away from them." Jane said. Clementine looked to the woman as she continued, "You wouldn't have made it this far if you weren't smart, but I still… I gotta warn you."

Jane's pace slowed down to a halt and Clementine followed suit as the woman turned to the young girl. "That group is cracking. I've seen it before." Jane explained. "And, well a lot of times… it's better to be on your own." Jane then walked away from the girl and continued to walk down the abandoned trail.

Clementine sent a glare towards the loner but walked next to her anyway. "I know you see what I'm talking about." Jane explained.

"These are good people." Clementine said. "Things may not work out all of the time and it may be a little dysfunctional at times, but we're trying. We're always there for each other when it counts."

"You'd be surprised." Jane muttered. "I mean, how much help is Kenny going to be? What he's going through… he's more of a liability than anything. And Keith's even worse. He's going to become just like his asshole dad."

"You're wrong." Clementine said with a glare.

"Clem, let me ask you something. Have you ever heard of the phrase: The apple doesn't fall far from the tree?"

"Well yeah, but I never knew what it meant." Clementine replied.

"That phrase is used to describe the relationship of a father and a son. Like it or not, Keith is going to become Carver, that is if he doesn't die from shock." Jane said. "Listen, I know that you and him have history, but you're going to need to let that go. Do this world a favor and kill Keith Carver before he becomes some power-hungry dictator, like his dad."

"I'm not doing that!" Clementine exclaimed angrily.

"Then you are willing to put everyone's life at risk, because you couldn't make the right decision of relieving this world of yet another dictator." Jane said.

"In other words, you want me to murder Keith?" Clementine said as she sent a glare towards Jane.

"Look, I'm just telling you something that will save your life." Jane snapped. "Just watch, Keith will become another Carver… it's only a matter of time." Jane sighed and continued, "Anyway, my main point is if you get enough broken people together… all you will get is a bunch of broken decisions."

"How do you get along without trusting anyone?" Clementine asked.

"That's exactly how I get along." Jane replied as the two approached an abandoned car on the trail. "For what it's worth, I like some of the people in your crew… but groups fall apart. People get killed."

Clementine pondered the woman's words as Jane searched the vehicle for any supplies. "Then why did you bring me with you?" Clementine asked.

"I'm just trying to give you the tools to make it." Jane said as she finished looking through the shattered window of the vehicle. "Like your jacket… it looks warm… but a walker would bite right through that. You know my sister Jaime had a good leather one. I wish I still had it. You coulda…" Jane trailed off and she looked off distantly. The same emotional pain in her features was shared with Kenny when he recollected on Duck and Katjaa. Clementine looked to the loner as she shook off any painful memories and went back to searching the vehicle.

"What… What happened to your sister?" Clementine asked.

Jane chuckled and said, "Seems like we always want to talk about the end, don't we?" Jane looked to the young girl as Clementine walked to the same side of the vehicle as Jane. "You know, being a big sister is… well, it's funny." Jane then started to walk away from the abandoned car as she continued, "It's really easy to be mean."

Clementine walked alongside her and asked, "Oh?"

"You know, hide her toys. Make fun of her bad haircut. Give her a bad haircut on purpose." Jane explained with a slight smile at all of the wonderful memories.

"Why would you do that?" Clementine asked.

"What can I say? She saw me as her best friend." Jane chuckled. "I couldn't let that go unpunished." Jane's pace slowed down to yet another halt and she addressed the girl. "Every summer, we would go to this amusement park in Virginia. But the best part wasn't the rides… it was that nobody knew us there, and I'd… I'd pretend that we weren't sisters… just friends." Something caught Jane's eye just then and she looked forward.

"Alright! Jackpot!" Jane exclaimed and she ran towards the forest's edge with Clementine in tow. As they exited the forest, the two were greeted with a fortified trailer park. Outside of the fence laid two walkers which Jane walked up to and said, "Bet these walkers got some good stuff."

Clementine looked to Jane perplexedly and followed the woman. Jane stabbed the unresponsive walker, just in case it would come to life and try to attack her or Clementine. "That one isn't coming back."

"Why should we check them out?" Clementine asked.

"Because they're fresh." Jane explained. "Old walkers are a waste of time, carrying credit cards and busted pagers." Jane walked over and repeated the process with the other walker. "But these weren't walkers too long ago. They were survivors. They might have useful stuff on them. See what that one has and I'll check this one." Jane then proceeded to search the dead walker.

Clementine did the same and searched one of the walker's pocket. She pulled out a couple of driver's license. Jane looked up from her search and asked, "What'd you find?"

"Driver's licenses, two of them." Clementine replied as she placed the plastic cards back in the walker's pocket.

"Some people can't let go of the past." Jane remarked as she continued to search the walker in front of her.

Clementine checked the walker's back pocket and pulled out a couple of 8 mm cartridges. She looked to Jane who said, "Hold on to them, ammo is getting hard to come by and things are not getting better."

Clementine nodded and placed the shells in her pocket. Jane finished scavenging anything useful from her particular walker and got up. She looked over to Clementine and noticed that the girl's hair was cut short. "Nice haircut." Jane said.

"Thanks." Clementine replied as she got up.

"So has your crew always been dysfunctional?" Jane asked. "I mean you fit in, but you aren't like them."

"I used to be a part of a group before this one." Clementine said. "Things made sense in that group, but it fell apart. Still I think my old group was better."

Jane looked to the young girl in acknowledgement and brought out an item that she found on the walker. It was a fingernail file. "Hah, these things are great." Jane remarked. "I used to jab myself with these things every time I went through Jaime's purse. Use thing to sharpen a blade, strike a flint…" Jane then pocketed the nail file and went to another walker. She stabbed the walker to make sure it wouldn't jump them. "Here, get on the other side and help me with this one." Jane said.

Clementine nodded and she got on the other side of the walker. Jane started to pull the obese walker's body as Clementine pushed the body so it would be on its back. They succeeded as Clementine caught herself by placing her hands on the ground. Her eyes widened when she looked to a pair of red-brimmed glasses. It was Sarah's glasses! She picked up the glasses and explained, "These glasses, they're Sarah's."

"Looks like your friend didn't make it." Jane said somewhat coldly.

Clementine wasn't convinced though. Just because Sarah's glasses are not with her, doesn't mean that she's gone. "Sarah? Sarah, where are you?" Clementine yelled out for her friend as Jane jumped. She didn't expect her younger ally to call out for the slightly older girl.

"Are you crazy?" Jane hissed and brought her hands out to stop the girl's yelling. "Walkers… bandits… you just announced our position to any of them. That's no way to find your friends."

"Well unlike you, I'm not going to just give up." Clementine said.

"That has nothing to do with it." Jane said. She sighed and continued, "Clem, I know what you want me to say, but…"

Suddenly, there was a loud panicked scream from within the abandoned trailer park. Clementine and Jane looked towards the trailer park as both could hear Luke. "Sarah, dammit. Just calm down."

"Shit. Okay, come on. We gotta find a way in." Jane said as she looked around an opening. "Looks like there's a way in, on the other side." Jane then headed for the opening with Clementine following her. Jane stopped at the entrance and looked to the girl. "Look we're going to do this, but it might not turn out the way you want it to. Are you prepared for what might be in there?"

"If they're in there, they're in trouble." Clementine said. "We can't wait until I'm ready."

"Okay then…" Jane replied somewhat unconvinced if this was a good idea. She then eyed the young girl's weapon. "That hatchet of yours seems to get stuck pretty easily. It's going to get you killed." Jane then handed an ice pick to the young girl. "This will work better. One quick stab, in and out. Now let's go." Jane proceeded to maneuver inside the fence with the use of the opening. Clementine followed but had less trouble to get in since she was shorter than Jane.

The two crept along towards a destroyed playground set and Jane analyzed the situation. She stood up and looked to see a walker that was limping aimlessly around the fenced-in, destroyed playground while another walker limped within the fence and was dangerously close to the two. "Alright, clock is ticking." Jane said.

"Okay, we're in. What now?" Clementine asked.

"Start by taking out the closer walker and I'll hop the fence to take out the other one." Jane replied. She squatted back down and said, "Go for it."

Clementine pulled out the ice pick that Jane gave her and she approached the walker. It quickly took notice of her and it growled at her. It extended its arms towards her, but Clementine quickly responded by stabbing the ice pick through the neck. She pulled out the ice pick and the walker fell to the ground.

Clementine squatted down to avoid being spotted by the walker outside of the fence. Jane approached the girl and said, "You know what you're doing." Clementine smiled and Jane continued, "Watch this. A nice little addition to your arsenal." Clementine watched Jane as she approached the fence. The woman hopped the fence and kicked the walker's knee. The walker fell from the kick which allowed Jane a quick and easy kill of the walker with her ice pick.

Clementine hopped the fence and walked up to the woman and she ran up to Jane as she explained, "Take out the knee first. Then… put a knife in it when it's down." Clementine nodded in response and Jane looked over to the rest of the trailer park. "Alright, let's look at what we got on deck…"

Jane and Clementine approached the one of the trailers and used it as cover. Clementine snuck a quick glance at the situation and was surprised by the scene. The two most noticeable features were the large wall of furniture that separated some trailers from the rest of the park. There were two walkers on the same side that Clementine and Jane were on and they were desperately trying to be on the other side of the wall. She also noticed several walkers banging and thrashing the door of one of the trailers. "There's too many." Clementine remarked.

"We can't come up with anything from here." Jane said. "We need to figure out a way to get a better view."

Clementine looked around and noticed an abandoned truck. Jane followed the girl's line of vision and said, "That'll work." She then sprinted towards the truck. Clementine proceeded to follow, but was grabbed by a walker that laid unresponsive until she made a move to follow Jane. The walker's snarls didn't go unnoticed by the other two walkers that were trying to get through the wall of furniture. They proceeded towards Clementine as she struggled with the walker on the ground.

Jane immediately went into action and kicked one of the walkers down and stabbed it. Meanwhile after her initial shock of the walker coming to life, Clementine stabbed the walker with the ice pick. Clementine escaped from the dead walker's grip to see one more walker approaching her. Clementine quickly utilized her newly learned skill from Jane and kicked the walker's leg. The walker lost its balance and fell on the ground to which Clementine finished it off with a stab to its brain.

"You did the knee thing." Jane said. "Neat trick, huh?" Clementine nodded but quickly looked to the herd that surrounded the door. Jane followed the young girl's line of vision and the two slowly approached the wall.

"That's a lot of walkers." Clementine said. "It looks like they're worked up about something."

"And what gets the attention of the dead?" Jane asked.

"People." Clementine said. "So what's the plan?"

"If we can make enough noise on this side, we can lure the walkers away from the door." Jane said. "Then we might be able to go through that trailer and get to your friends." Jane gestured to the trailer behind her which was used as part of the wall and continued, "What do you think?"

"Sounds like a plan." Clementine said.

"Good, so what makes a lot of noise?" Jane asked. Clementine immediately turned to truck that she spotted earlier. "I got you covered." Jane said as she looked back to the herd.

Clementine went to the truck and opened the door. She could hear Luke yelling in the background along with Sarah's whimpers. She pressed down on the horn and the walkers immediately noticed. However, the sounds of the horn only attracted their attention for a couple of seconds and they returned to pounding on the door.

"That's good." Jane said. "But we got to keep it going somehow."

Clementine nodded and she noticed the dead walkers. She looked back and forth between the truck and the walker, and an idea came to her. She walked up to one of the bodies and Jane looked to her with curiosity. "What do you have in mind?" Jane asked.

"If we lean him on the horn, the horn will keep honking and it'll draw the walker..." Clementine explained.

"Just like moths to a flame. Give me a hand." Jane said and she grabbed one of the walker's arms. Clementine grabbed the other and they started to drag the walker towards the truck. Once they reached the door, they maneuvered the walker into the driver's seat. Jane pushed the walker against the horn and a loud honking echoed throughout the trailer park.

"It's working." Clementine remarked as she saw the walkers limp towards the wall and ignored the trailer.

"Come on!" Jane exclaimed and they raced towards the trailer. Once inside, Jane looked around and noticed a walker hitting a window. Jane approached the walker as Clementine watched on until she heard a growl from behind. She turned around to see a walker approach her to which she kicked it. The walker lost its balance and fell to the ground. She finished the walker off with a quick stab.

"Come on." Jane said as she finished off her walker. However, to the two survivors' horror, the horn stopped and the walkers headed back for the trailer. "Crap! We gotta move!" Jane exclaimed and she kicked the door open. They ran to the trailer with Jane at the bottom of the stairs ready to attack any walkers that got too close while Clementine reached the top of the stairs and started to turn the doorknob.

"It's locked!" Clementine said.

"Then try something else!" Jane said.

"Hey, you guys in there!" Clementine exclaimed.

However in response, Luke yelled, "Don't do that!" Neither Luke nor Sarah could hear her.

"That isn't going to work." Jane said. "Do something else."

Clementine nodded and she kicked the door but it didn't budge. "Come on! Put some muscle into it!" Jane exclaimed as she killed one of the approaching walkers.

Clementine nodded and she stepped back. She ran to the door and did a strong kick to it. The door broke open to both of the survivors' relief. Jane quickly rushed up the stairs and pushed Clementine inside as the herd approached the trailer.

"Help me block this." Jane said as she gestured to the shelf. "Hurry!" Clementine ran to the other side of the shelf, and they pushed it down on the ground, blocking the doorway.

"Sarah, please." Luke pleaded. "Who's out there?"

"Luke." Clementine said.

Luke opened the door at the far end of the trailer and said, "Clem? Thank goodness. I'm glad you're here." He approached the two with his arm hugging his ribs. "When I heard y'all banging on the door…"

"Luke, where's Sarah?" Clementine asked.

Luke looked to the room that he came out of and back to the two. "I…I don't know what to do about her." Luke said.

"What's the matter?" Jane asked.

Luke hesitated for a second. He wasn't sure of how to explain the unique predicament that Sarah was in. He figured it was better to just show them. "You got to help." Luke said and he went towards the room.

…**To be continued.**

**A/N: Yeah, pretty shitty time to cut it off here, but I reached my range in word count. If I was to keep going, the word count would shoot all the way up to almost 6000 words for this chapter.**

**Anyway, updating is going to be spotty while I'm going to school. The good news for you guys and me is that I have no term papers this semester. So I can update more frequently than if I was to have a term paper. So… Yay!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I usually ain't one for advertising, but this is one of my most popular works so…**

**I have a Walking Dead/Last of Us FanFic called What's Left of Us. Basically I replace Ellie and Riley with Clementine and Duck. I start with the Left Behind DLC in which Clementine and Duck are in the mall having fun and I plan to do the whole Last of Us story. Please check it out.**

**Sorry, I don't usually advertise my other works like that, but that FanFic isn't getting as many views as I thought. Now, onward to SoT.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Clementine followed Luke as he walked back into the room. They approached a whimpering and withdrawn Sarah as Luke explained, "Sarah, look it's Clem. See? It's just like I told you. She's alright. And uh… where's Keith?"

"He's in shock. He's back at Parker's Run with everyone else." Clementine explained. Luke seemed to be relieved to hear that everyone else was okay as Clementine squatted down to talk to Sarah. "Sarah, what's wrong? Can you get up?" The older girl was unresponsive and she maintained her withdrawn position. Clementine stood back up as Luke explained the situation

"I don't know what to do." Luke explained. "I can't snap her out of it, okay? I tried to carry her but I… I guess Carver messed me up pretty bad back there. I don't know what to do for her. After Carlos, she just flipped out. Started to run all over the place like a maniac. I chased her for I don't know how long and then… well, she saw this mobile home and made a beeline for it. I'm glad y'all are here."

Suddenly, they heard the growling outside intensify and the building started to groan. "We're not out of the woods yet." Jane said.

"What are we going to do about her?" Luke asked as he gestured to Sarah.

"Maybe she'll listen to me." Clementine said.

"Yeah, maybe." Luke said.

There was a loud crash from outside and the groans of the building became louder. "Listen, I uh... they're going to tear this place open very soon. We can't stay here." Jane said. "We either got to get her up or…" Jane looked down not wanting to mention the next part of her sentence. Clementine looked to the woman with a shocked expression.

"I've tried, I've been trying for hours, but I can't even get her to look up at me." Luke said.

Clementine squatted down in front of Sarah and said, "Sarah? It's me."

Sarah stopped trembling for a second and looked up to her friend. She acknowledged Clementine's presence with a quick hi and went back to trembling.

Clementine tried to reply with a hug, but Sarah shouted in fear from the gesture. "Shit." Jane muttered.

"I know how you feel right now." Clementine said. "It's one of the worst feelings in the world. Ever since the walkers, I have lost so many people who I know… people who I loved. And they died for stupid reasons." Sarah started to whimper as Clementine's words sunk in and Luke looked to Clementine with a saddened look.

Suddenly there was a loud thud from behind. Jane ran over to the back window to see several walkers trying to break into the trailer. "Crap, we're surrounded." Jane said. She looked around for any other exits. Her eyes stopped at the ceiling and she asked, "What about the skylight?"

"All we got." Luke said.

"Clem." Jane said as she approached the girl. "We have no time."

Clementine ignored Jane and looked to Sarah. "Our friends make us strong. Sarah, you're not alone in this world. You have me, Luke, Nick, and Keith."

Sarah looked to Clementine and asked, "We're friends?"

"Yes, Sarah, we'll always be friends." Clementine said as she handed the girl her glasses. Sarah accepted her glasses and smiled at Clementine. However, the situation with walker intensified and the door with the shelf in front of it opened.

"Shit! Get to the skylight!" Jane exclaimed as she ran over to reinforce the door.

"Come on, I'll give you a boast." Luke said as he crouched down and cupped his hands. Clementine put her foot into his cupped hands, but he immediately yelped in pain. Clementine fell to the ground as Luke gripped his ribs "Dammit." Luke hissed.

"What's going on back there?" Jane asked as she struggled to keep the door shut.

"My ribs." Luke replied with a pained huff as Clementine got back up. "We're going to need something to stand on."

"Luke!" Jane exclaimed. "Get over here and help me hold this!" Luke obliged and ran over to help Jane with the shelf. "Clem, see what you can find."

Clementine looked around the trailer but found nothing that could be used to help them reach the skylight, except for one thing. "What about that?" Clementine asked as she gestured to the shelf which was used to keep the walkers outside.

Jane looked down to the shelf and said, "Yeah that would work…"

"What?" Luke asked. He then looked to the shelf and muttered, "Ah shit." Luke released a disgruntled sigh and quickly shifted from supporting the object to keep the door closed to the end of the shelf ready to pull it towards the room.

"Okay… ready?" Clementine asked.

"On three." Jane said. The two looked to her ready to act as she counted. "One. Two. Three!" In one quick motion, Jane shoved the shelf forward and quickly blocked the door. She kept the door closed as Luke and Clementine dragged the shelf across the floor and into the room where the skylight was.

Suddenly, the door busted open with one walker being successful in getting inside. Jane quickly killed the walker with a stab from her ice pick and tried to slam the door shut again. Unfortunately, a couple walkers managed to keep the door from getting shut.

"Clem, help her!" Luke exclaimed. "Help Jane!"

Clementine ran to the door and quickly stabbed the walker that tried to get in at the bottom of the door. "Okay, go, go!" Jane exclaimed as she opened the door. The other walker fell to the ground and was killed by Jane when she stabbed it with her ice pick. "Keep pushing! Go!" Jane exclaimed as she went to deal with the numerous walkers that were piling in.

Clementine rejoined Luke and together they continued to drag the shelf into back room where the skylight was. They finally reached the room with the horde of walkers pursuing them. Jane continued to thin out the herd's numbers but was getting overwhelmed by the herd. "It's through!" Clementine exclaimed, hoping the woman could hear her over the loud growls and groans of the walkers.

Jane quickly retreated to the room and slammed the door. "Luke you first." Jane told the young man as she climbed on top of the shelf. "We need you up top." Luke nodded in response and Jane proceeded to cup her hands and help the young man up to the roof.

Luke groaned from the pain of his broken ribs but he was now on top of the trailer ready to help the rest of the group to get on top. "Okay, come on." Luke said as he extended his hand down into the trailer.

"Clem." Jane said as she waited for the eleven year old.

Clementine immediately turned her head to Sarah and exclaimed, "Sarah, we have to go! Are you listening?" However, the girl just stared at the ground and was unresponsive.

"Now Clementine!" Jane shouted. "If she doesn't want to go, you can't make her! Don't let her take you down with her, too! Not again." Clementine looked back and forth from Jane to Sarah. She then approached Sarah with the evident sound of wood starting to crack in the background. It was the door; it was starting to break under the pressure of the walkers. "Look, I know what you're trying to do, and it's not going to work."

Clementine ignored the woman and crouched down in front of Sarah as the girl wailed, "I CAN'T! I CAN'T! DADDY…!"

"Snap out of it, Sarah. Please…" Clementine begged.

"You can't save her, Clem. We have to go." Jane said. "Believe me. I know about this."

"Hurry up." Luke said as he waited for the group.

The door was starting creak even louder and threatened to break open any minute. There was only one thing Clementine could think of to get Sarah to move. Clementine looked to Sarah with regret before she slapped her. The older girl looked to Clementine surprised to see that her friend had done such a thing, but Clementine's attempts to get her to move were successful. Sarah was out of her daze. "Move!" Clementine exclaimed. Clementine's success was perfect timing as the door busted open with walkers.

Clementine helped Sarah to her feet and the two quickly reached the shelf. "Clementine!" Jane scolded the girl for saving the doomed teen.

"Grab her." Clementine told Luke. Luke obliged, and Jane helped the teenager to get up on top of the trailer. Clementine followed as the walkers limped their way towards the only other survivor within the trailer. Finally, Luke and Clementine were able to get Jane on top of the trailer and away from the walkers below.

Clementine huffed from the intense moments in the trailer as Sarah looked around frantically. She needed her medication; her anxiety was maxed out. "We gotta go." Jane said as she observed the remainder of the herd approaching the trailer.

"Sarah…" Luke said worriedly. Nonetheless, he knew Jane was right and he followed the woman as she descended to the ground below.

Clementine had finally caught her breath and followed the two with Sarah close behind. Her jitteriness had subsided for the time being. Together, the four headed to Parker's Run to regroup with the others.

* * *

The group advanced through the forest for a decent half hour until Luke groaned and said, "Okay… look, I really hate to ask this, but… are we there yet?"

"We're not far." Jane chuckled.

Clementine and Sarah were following close behind to the adults but Sarah was noticeably lost in thought. "Look Sarah, we're going to get through this. We'll be okay. I promise."

"But… I'm not okay..." Sarah replied.

"Just try, okay?" Clementine asked. "Can you do that?"

"She just needs a little time, Clem." Jane said. "Leave her be for a bit." Clementine reluctantly obliged and went to the front of the group as Jane continued, "I don't know about this. The way she is, she's going to cause problems."

"What happened in there?" Clementine asked. "When we went in there, you were ready to help, but then… something changed."

"Look I just… I've seen that kind of thing before. I just didn't want to stick around for the bitter end." Jane said. "Sorry, I..."

"At least, I now know what will happen to me, when things get worse." Clementine said in an angry and disappointed tone. "I just hope that Nick and Keith will be around. At least, they'll try to save me."

"Clementine!" Jane snapped. "I would never-!"

"You just proved it back there that you could and you would." Clementine protested.

"Look, Clem. I wouldn't have to do that for you. You're strong." Jane said. "But understand this. Just because you got her out of there today, doesn't mean you saved her. Trust me. I tried to save my sister Jaime too… but she gave up."

Luke walked up to join the two and said, "I just… I can't believe it. As soon as you guys said, 'go,' I was the first one on the roof. Like I had already made up my mind."

"Luke, you can't let it eat away at you." Jane said.

Luke joined alongside the woman and said, "Well, I can't forget it."

"I dragged my sister across four states. Every morning, she would say that she wasn't getting up, so I would convince her, push her, hell even carry her if I had to. Until this one time…" Jane said. "Walkers cornered us and forced us to the top of the roof. And then when they kept coming… I…I couldn't make her jump. Couldn't throw her. So, I tried something else. I told her that she could have what she wanted. And I left her there." The mood around the group was solemn and saddening. Even Clementine, who hadn't seen eye-to-eye with the loner, was sympathetic to her.

"Jane… I'm really sorry." Clementine said.

Jane looked back to the girl with an appreciative stare and continued, "It killed me for a long time. But I finally realized that I had put her on a forced march through hell, but all she really wanted me to do was let her go. Sarah was that way too."

"Jane." Luke warned the woman.

"No regard for her own safety. Or ours." Jane said as she looked back to the struggling teen.

"Sarah isn't Jaime. She's going to get through this." Clementine said.

"Wrong, they're more alike than you think." Jane said coldly. She then looked forward. The path was starting to become familiar and the forest surrounding the group had thinned out. "Now, let's get to your friends." Jane said. With that the four exited the forest and approached the desolated Civil War site.

Mike and Nick watched on as Bonnie helped Rebecca to move until they could hear footsteps from behind. The two turned around and smiled to see that Luke and Sarah were okay and walking with Jane and Clementine. "Son of a bitch." Mike said. "You found them!" Rebecca and Bonnie approached the four upon hearing Mike.

"Yeah, I'm a little amazed myself." Luke huffed. "If it wasn't for Clem and Jane, I'm not sure what would have happened."

"Hey brother." Nick said as he extended his hand out to Luke.

"Hey." Luke huffed. The handshake turned to hug to which Luke groaned. "Easy. My ribs are busted.

They separated and Nick nodded. "Sorry, forgot." Nick said. He then looked down to Clementine and hugged the young girl caringly. "I'm glad to see you're okay."

Clementine hugged back but immediately separated and asked, "Is Keith okay?"

Nick's smile remained and he said, "Yeah, he's getting better. I was able to find an abandoned car not far from here. Whole lot of stuff in it. Medical supplies, blankets, some clothes that could probably fit you and Keith. I covered up Keith, and I've been checking up on him every so often."

With Bonnie's aid, Rebecca approached Sarah. "Sarah, how you doing, hon?" Sarah looked away distantly. Rebecca tried to place a comforting hand on the teen's shoulder, but the girl flinched involuntarily. Sarah looked to Rebecca with an apologetic stare to which the woman replied, "That's okay, sweetie. Whenever you're ready, I'm just glad that you're okay." Sarah looked down and walked to one of the destroyed portions of the wall to sit down and hug her knees.

Everyone looked to the teenager worriedly and Luke whispered to Nick, "Those supplies you found, you happen to come across any anxiety medicine?"

Nick sighed and said, "We got lucky, but we didn't get that lucky."

"Damn…" Luke muttered.

Suddenly, Rebecca groaned in pain and grabbed her stomach with her free hand. "Is… uh, is that baby coming soon?" Luke asked.

"Ohhhh. Ohhhh. I'll be okay. Just help me… walk around a bit?" Rebecca said. "I'll fill you in."

"Yeah, yeah okay." Luke said as he walked up to Rebecca and helped her walk around.

Bonnie walked over to Clementine and said, "Hey Clem could you come over here with me for a minute?"

"What's going on?" Nick asked.

"It's nothing too important. Go back out there and keep an eye on our perimeter." Bonnie told Nick.

"Alright…" Nick said with a questioning glare at Bonnie. Despite the fact that she did help him and his group escape, Nick still didn't trust Bonnie. However, someone had to keep an eye out for walkers and Nick was the only willing volunteer. He was also the one with the most to lose. So Nick left the two and went back to the watching the perimeter.

Bonnie then walked from the group with Clementine and said, "I ain't going to sugarcoat this. That baby is coming faster than Rebecca is letting on." Bonnie turned to Clementine and continued, "I was hoping you might know… Does Luke know anything about babies?" Bonnie looked to Luke and asked, "Did he mention anything about Carlos teaching him?"

"No, I don't think so." Clementine replied.

"I was afraid of that." Bonnie said. "I don't know anything. Mike sure as hell doesn't know. I don't even know how to ask Jane. Nick doesn't know, so that just leaves… Kenny." Bonnie then looked to the tent that Nick had placed Keith in earlier. Bonnie turned around and explained, "He brought Sarita in there not too long after you left. I don't know if he's done it yet. Ain't seen him since."

Clementine sighed as she looked to the tent. "I'll go in there." Clementine said.

"Thank you, Clem." Bonnie said. "I really do think that would be best."

Clementine sighed again as she looked to the tent. She would have to talk to Kenny, something that she didn't think she would ever dread. She walked up to the tent and slowly opened it to see Kenny on the ground looking defeated and a very pale and lifeless Sarita lying next to him. On the other side of the tent laid Keith with a couple of blankets wrapped tightly around him.

"Kenny, we need help with Rebecca's baby." Clementine said. "No one else knows what to do."

Kenny didn't reply for a couple of seconds as he looked to Sarita. "She didn't want me to wait, but I had to." Kenny said remorsefully. "In case by some crazy chance that she didn't come back."

"Sarita was a good person. She was one of the nicest people I've ever known." Clementine said sadly.

Kenny huffed out a long breath and continued, "Nothing's changed. Nothing will ever change. I'm still taking a beating every day. Duck. Katjaa. Sarita…"

"Kenny, we need you. Rebecca needs you." Clementine said. "They're scared and they don't know what to do."

Kenny chuckled and said, "Yeah, because I've done so great with everything else in my damn life. I wish that herd back in Savannah would have finished me off. Now get out of here."

"No, Kenny, I'm not leaving." Clementine said with an angry tone to her voice. Kenny looked to her to yell at her but she continued, "You know what? You can hate me all you want. In fact, you can hate me for the rest of your life if you want to, but you owe it to Rebecca and her baby to try. You can't just give up on someone before they have even had a chance in this world. That is not fair!"

Kenny's jaw dropped as he contemplated on Clementine's words. Clementine was right, he had to try for the mother-to-be and the unborn baby. But he was also saddened that Clementine thought that he hated her. He was about to speak up when suddenly he and the child could hear Luke.

"Oh shit! Is that what I think it means!" Luke exclaimed. Clementine and Kenny looked to the entrance of the tent and Kenny proceeded to get up. "What are we supposed to do?"

"We should see what's going on." Clementine said. She was noticeably less angry with Kenny and slightly happy that he was now ready to help the group. The two proceeded to leave the tent with a deceased Sarita and an unconscious Keith. Upon exiting the tent, they both saw Luke and Mike standing in front of Rebecca who appeared to be in pain. Bonnie supported the woman as the two men looked to Rebecca worriedly. Nick raced back to the group to see what was going on as Clementine ran up to the group with Jane not too far behind.

"Are you okay?" Mike asked. "How does it feel?"

"It feels wet. That's how it feels." Rebecca hissed in pain.

"What's going on?" Clementine asked.

"Rebecca's water broke." Bonnie said.

"Ah shit. That means… That means the baby is coming, right?" Nick asked.

"Ah shit." Luke muttered.

"What do we do?" Clementine asked.

Bonnie looked over to see Kenny contemplating on a course of action and said, "Kenny, thank goodness! I think the baby is coming. What do we do?"

"Alright, alright. Give me a second." Kenny said as he tried to think of a plan.

"No way Rebecca can travel like this." Luke said.

"He's right." Jane said. "She's going to make a lot of noise. They'll be able to smell her too."

"What should we do first, Kenny?" Clementine asked, but the older man had just finished mourning and was having a hard time trying to think of a course of action. Everything was going too fast for him to process.

"First thing is to find shelter." The group heard a familiar young boy's voice from behind them. Clementine and Nick smiled at the sound of the voice and everyone looked behind to see Keith standing right in front of them. He looked one hundred percent better, with his skin returning to its healthy hue. He now wore a black, unzipped leather jacket over his dark green hooded sweatshirt. He looked to the group with a smile as he continued, "There's an observation deck nearby; it's right next to the river. That might be able to provide us some shelter. We're also going to need some clean water. There might be some in the museum that's a little ways from here."

"How do you know all that?" Mike asked with a large smile on his face.

"Memory mostly." Keith replied. "After my dad killed my mom, I came here, searching for any clues of where Luke and his group may have ran off to."

"Okay, well then, who wants to go to the museum? And who wants to go to the observation deck?" Luke asked.

"I can go check out the museum that's nearby." Bonnie said.

"Good idea." Luke said. "Mike, you think you could go with her?"

"Sure thing." Mike said.

"I'll check out the observation deck." Jane said and she left the group. She was noticeably irritated. Not a single person understood why, except for Clementine. Clementine knew that Jane was upset that Keith was okay and healthy, but she didn't care. She was glad to see him.

Clementine and Nick walked up to the boy, and the girl greeted him with a hug. "I'm okay, Clem." Keith chuckled as he returned the hug. The two separated which allowed Nick the chance to greet the boy.

"We missed you, Boy Wonder." Nick said as ruffled the boy's hair.

"Well, I'm back and I'm ready to help out." Keith said.

"I need to talk to you when you get the chance." Clementine said.

"Um… okay." Keith said. He noticed that Clementine was rather serious.

"We're all glad to see that you're okay, Keith." Luke said. And they were. Even Kenny was happy to see the boy still alive. "Okay, Kenny, you uh… stay with Rebecca. And Nick and I will check the perimeter for walkers."

Luke then looked around and said, "Sarah?" Upon not seeing the girl, he looked behind to see her hugging her knees and retaining the same position that she was in at the trailer. Keith was visibly saddened to see his friend in such poor shape. "Sarah, you stay close to Kenny and Rebecca, okay?" Sarah didn't respond and instead she remained in the same position.

Luke looked to the girl worriedly until he felt Nick's hand on his shoulder. "Come on, brother, we need to go check the perimeter. Sarah'll be fine here." Luke nodded and the two young man left the group.

"Hey, Clem, Keith, can I talk to you two?" Bonnie asked the two children. Clementine and Keith walked over to Bonne. The woman looked to Clementine and said, "Clem, I know it must have been hard, but thank you for talking to Kenny."

Keith looked to the two questionably and asked, "Did something happen between you and Kenny?"

"Yeah, kind of. I just… I don't know about him anymore." Clementine said sadly.

Keith noticed her sadness and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hey." Clementine looked up and Keith continued, "You got me and Nick, we're both looking after you and I promise that we won't change."

A smile formed on Clementine's features and she said, "Yeah, I'm glad that I have you guys."

"Look, I hate interrupt you two, but… I need one of you two to go with Jane. I mean, how do we know that she ain't going to run off again?" Bonnie said.

"I should go." Clementine said. She then looked to Keith and said, "Jane thinks that… you're going to become like your dad."

"That's not good." Keith said as he looked down somewhat frightened. He then looked to Clementine and said, "Okay, just be careful around her. I've met people like Jane before. From what I've learned, they only care about themselves and they will usually harm anyone to get what they want."

"Alright, everyone, we got to hurry." Kenny announced as he helped Rebecca. "That baby's coming. We don't have any time to waste."

"Okay, I'll go with Jane." Clementine said as she turned back to Keith.

"Right, while you're doing that, Mike, Bonnie, and I'll check out the museum." Keith said. The two children separated yet again and went to help their allies. Keith followed Bonnie and Mike and Clementine walked to the observation deck in search of Jane.

**Jane and Clementine**

Clementine walked from the Civil War site to the observation deck. She was forced to walk through a formerly well-kept dirt road that led to the observation deck. There were several picnic tables that flanked the walkway. She noticed Jane out of the corner of her eye and proceeded to the woman. Jane sat on one of the benches of the picnic table. She wasn't moving an inch until the young girl walked up to her.

Jane looked up and acknowledged the young girl. "Oh hey." Jane said.

"Are you okay?" Clementine asked. "You're acting a little… strange."

"No, I'm not okay." Jane said. "I know that you're going to flip out on me, but I was serious about what I said in the forest. Keith will become Carver. It's only a matter of time."

"What if you're wrong?" Clementine asked keeping a calm tone to her voice.

"Like I said, time will only tell if I am or not." Jane said as she got up from the seat of the picnic table and walked to the stairs of the observation deck. "It's not like I want to see a kid die or get killed, but… you got to keep the safety of your group at the very front of your concerns. Not some stupid crush."

"Keith isn't just my boyfriend." Clementine said. "He's also our only medic, now that Carlos is gone. He's valuable to our group. If you kill him or let him die like you want to, then the whole group will die. We need someone with medical experience. And Keith is the only one who can do that."

"Well, what about you?" Jane asked. "You've got some techniques under your belt. You could always take his place."

"Keith's better." Clementine explained. "I wasn't taught by a doctor, but Keith was."

Jane released a sigh and said, "Look, I'm just worried. I don't want the group to get hurt from another Carver." The two started to climb the stairs as Jane continued, "Anyway, I have to admit, I'm glad that I have you around. It's nice to have someone watch my back."

Jane and Clementine continued to climb the creaking, wooden stairs until they reached the top of the stairs and looked over the observation deck. "I hope Keith is right about this place. We need a break from… everything."

"Yeah, no kidding." Clementine said in an agreeing tone.

Jane looked over to a gate that had a padlock on it. The gate itself was intact but banged up. There were a couple of minor dents; more than likely, someone tried to get inside. Jane approached the gate and examined it further until she looked up to Clementine. "Check this out." Jane said. Clementine walked up to the gate as Jane explained, "This gate's still locked which means that hopefully no one has gotten to whatever's locked in there in the first place."

"Rebecca could have her baby in there." Clementine said.

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Jane said. The loner then searched her pockets and pulled out a fingernail file. "Hm… maybe I could pick the lock." Jane said.

"A nail file…?" Clementine asked.

"Versatility is not overrated." Jane said with a smirk. Jane crouched down and inserted the nail file into the lock. Jane struggled to unlock the door. Even though the nail file was a decent replacement for a lock pick, it wasn't primarily made for the purpose of unlocking. "You know, uh, it wouldn't hurt to try and have a heavier hand with this thing. See if you can find something bigger. We might need to bust the mechanism."

Clementine nodded and looked around the observation deck in search for anything that could bust the lock.

…**To be continued.**

**A/N: Yeah, Keith's back! But for how long? Muhahahahahahahaha.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: *sigh* It was good while it lasted. Got rid of Troy and Carlos and everything felt amazing, and now it's going to end with the introduction of another Walking Dead character who I hate.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

After a few minutes of searching, Clementine came up empty handed. There was nothing in the trash can or anywhere on the deck that was heavy enough to bust the lock, yet light enough that she and Jane could maneuver over the lock.

"Oh shit!" Jane exclaimed.

"You okay?" Clementine asked.

"Yeah… I think I almost had it. Keep looking." Jane said.

Clementine nodded as she continued to search the observation deck. She spotted another telescope that was on the deck. The first telescope yielded no results. More than likely, the lenses were broken. She approached the telescope hoping that the device could work. She looked through it and was thankful that she could see something this time. She looked across the river bank on the other side until she spotted some buildings. "There's some buildings across the river. I think I can see a church."

"The nearest river crossing is miles up." Jane said as continued to try to pick the lock. "Rebecca wouldn't make it in her condition."

Clementine released her grip on the telescope and turned around to see if there was something in the field below to help with the lock. However, her eyes widened upon seeing what appeared to be a teenager heading for the observation deck. Clementine immediately crouched down upon seeing the person approach the building. "Jane, there's someone coming toward us." Clementine said.

Jane immediately stopped messing with the lock and slowly approached the stairs to take a look of the individual. "Shit, shit, shit." Jane hissed. "He's coming this way. Don't know if he has friends nearby."

"Why's he coming up here?" Clementine asked.

"No idea." Jane replied. "But we should scope him out and see what he's up to. I don't like some stranger sneaking around so close to the others. We got enough on our plates with the baby coming…"

"I'll try to talk to him." Clementine said. "Maybe we can reason with him."

"Good call." Jane said. She snuck a peek at the stairs and noticed that the teenager was walking up to where she and Clementine were. "Shit. Hide. Now." Jane said as she looked over to Clementine. Jane went towards the other side of the observation deck and hid with the use of the entry way. Clementine hid next to the cannon.

There was an annoying metal creak along with some footsteps. Clementine stayed crouched down, but had to maneuver around the base of the cannon to avoid detection. She looked up from behind the cannon to see the teenager heading for the trash can. The teenager wore a metal leg brace which produced the creaking sound from earlier, and it appeared that he was carrying something.

"Uh… hi." Clementine said. This frightened the teenager and made him jump. He turned around swiftly with a revolver pointed at her. His grip on the gun was shaky and the expression on his face read that he was hesitant to shoot someone. "I'm just a kid. Please, don't hurt me." Clementine said as she raised her hands in the air. But the teenager kept the gun aimed at her.

"Who are you?" Clementine asked.

"I am Arvo." The teenager replied. "I'm going to go. I don't want to shoot." He sounded foreign and his slurred English reflected the fact that he wasn't born in the United States. Jane peeked from behind the wall and slowly approached the teenager. "I don't want to shoot anyone…" Arvo said.

"O-Okay, I'm leaving." Clementine said as she started to backpedal slowly. "I'm going to leave you alone." The teen visibly relaxed but still kept a gun aimed at her.

"Okay, I am not going." Arvo said as Jane approached him from behind. At that moment, Arvo made the big mistake of letting his guard down and letting the gun slowly fall to his side which Jane took advantage of.

The loner quickly grabbed the gun from Arvo. In response, the teen gasped but it was too late. He turned around to see Jane aiming the gun at him. "Back up." Jane snarled. Arvo looked shocked by what happened. The tables had turned; he was now being held at gunpoint. "Drop the bag." Arvo's surprise turned into a glare and he dropped the bag on the ground. "Clem, make sure that he doesn't have any other weapons in there." Jane told the eleven year old.

Clementine obliged and she crouched down to open the bowling bag. Arvo glared at Clementine as well, but the young girl ignored his glare. She had to make sure that the bag wasn't containing something hazardous. She opened the bog and her eyes widened. Inside the bowling bag was several over-the-counter and prescription medication, along with bottled water.

"No, I have no more guns, I swear to you." Arvo said.

"We just need to make sure that you aren't a threat." Jane said.

Clementine took one of the over-the-counter medication containers from the bag and examined it. "Anything?" Jane asked. She looked down upon receiving no reply from her young ally and the woman's eyes widened. "Whoa. That's a serious stash of meds."

Clementine stood upright as Arvo started to panic. "No, no, no, no. Take whatever you want, but don't take the medicine. It's for my sister. My older sister…she is sick… The pain makes her cry and then those things come." Arvo pleaded.

"Then why were you trying to get rid of it if you needed it?" Clementine asked.

"Huh?" Arvo asked, not understanding what the girl was asking.

"You were heading right for the trash can with the medicine. You were going to throw it away." Clementine said.

"No, no, no. I hide it from bad people. They rob my group." Arvo explained.

"Sister or not, we could really use those meds." Jane said.

"No, you are not nice people!" Arvo exclaimed. "You already left me defenseless and now you are taking my sister's medicine. You are Speaking Russian." Whatever Arvo was saying it sounded like an insult.

"Hey, we have got people who are suffering." Jane said. "Who need this medicine. Luke is still a wreck after Carver's, Keith's just as worse, Rebecca's in pain, Sarah is a mess. Well look at all of it. Clementine we need this medicine. Nick wasn't able to find any prescription meds in that abandoned car. We don't need any of that over-the-counter crap, we need prescription."

"My people are suffering just as much as yours. You are not special!" Arvo said. Arvo then turned to Clementine and said, "Clementine, yes? Please you must believe me."

Clementine reply came in the form of placing the over-the-counter medicine container back into the bag and zipping up the bag. "You're not taking them?" Jane asked.

"I can't do this." Clementine said as she looked up to Jane. "It's not right to steal from someone. My old group and I learned that the hard way. Just let him go Jane."

"Yes, yes, thank you, Clementine. Thank you." Arvo said.

Jane withdrew the gun and stared off distantly. Although Arvo wasn't a threat now, experience told the woman that he would be in the future when the group was most vulnerable. She pushed the teenager towards the railing and shoved the gun to Arvo's temple. "No! What are you doing?" Arvo asked. "You don't have to do this."

Clementine ran up to Jane and placed a hand on her arm. "Jane, please, don't do this." Clementine pleaded.

Jane looked to the child and back to the teenager with a glare. "Don't you EVER come around here again." Jane snapped. "I don't care if you do have some sick sister. The next time I see you, you won't just be walking away." She then shoved the teenager towards the stairs and pointed the gun at him. "Go." He limped quickly to retrieve the bowling bag of medicine and descended the stairs.

Jane huffed and tossed the revolver on the ground. She went to the railing and said, "I can't believe I gotten into this mess. Threatening some stupid kid..."

"I thought you were going to shoot him." Clementine said. She was starting to become scared of the woman.

"I wouldn't have shot him. I just didn't want him coming back here." Jane said. Jane looked out to the river distantly for a couple of seconds and then turned to the gate. She was clearly affected by threatening the teenager and said, "Go get the others. I'm going to get this place open and then we need to get moved in ASAP." True to her word, Jane went back to the lock and tried to open it with the nail file.

Clementine proceeded to the stairs and looked to the woman worriedly before she descended the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, Clementine looked over to see Luke who was approaching the observation deck. Clementine approached Luke as he asked, "Hey Clem, any luck with that observation deck? I just heard from Rebecca and Kenny and they said that they hadn't heard from you in a while."

"Jane and I were trying to open the gift shop and a stranger showed up." Clementine explained.

"What?" Luke said surprised by the fact that an unwelcomed individual was so close to the group. "Shit. This is the last thing we need right now." Luke looked back up to Clementine and asked, "What happened?"

"Jane took his gun and scared him off." Clementine said.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay." Luke said. Clementine stared at Luke as he continued, "Is Jane up there now?"

"Yeah, she's trying to get the gift shop open." Clementine said.

"You know, I can't figure her out." Luke said as he walked closer to the observation deck. He was now standing next to Clementine but his attention was towards the building. "I mean she really lays it on the line but… at the same time she doesn't show anything that counts."

"I'm still not sure of what to think of her." Clementine said. "I mean she's strong, and she has been helping us. But she's cold."

"Maybe." Luke said. "But nobody is that cold. I'm definitely starting to think that we might need to branch out."

"What do you mean?" Clementine asked.

"Jane seems like the kind of person who gets tempered by hardship. You know?" Luke said. "But when I look at Kenny now… he just seems broken, and broken people get reckless. I know you and him got history and he may have been a good guy when all of this started, but I think he has had more than what he can handle."

"I don't know anymore." Clementine admitted. "When I saw him back at the ski lodge for the first time in over a year, I was happy, but now, I don't know anymore." She hated to see that such a reliable friend had become so erratic. "He… actually slapped me back at Howe's."

"He what?" Luke inquired. Luke glared as he turned back to the Civil War site. The glare was intended for Kenny.

"It's okay." Clementine said. "He apologized."

"That still doesn't make it right, Clem." Luke said. "He physically assaulted you and you are the youngest member in our group. Kenny's more dangerous now than he has ever been before."

"You-You might be right." Clementine admitted.

"Look, I know that you care about him, but Kenny's… been through too much." Luke said. "I just want to survive and that means picking the right sides."

Clementine looked down distantly for a second until Luke spoke up, "Hey, you know, Nick's a really good ally, and I can tell that he's starting to really like you. He's been doing a good job of looking after you and Keith. Rebecca told me that he looked after the both of you back at Carver's." Luke knelt down to Clementine's height and placed his hand under her chin so that she would look at him. "If there is anyone that can look after you in this world, it's definitely Nick. He defends his friends with everything he's got."

Clementine smiled in response. It was true. Nick was always trying to look after her and Keith. "I need to go tell the others about the observation deck." Clementine said.

"Yeah, good." Luke replied. "I'll uh… see you back there." Luke stood back up and walked to the observation deck. Clementine started to walk back to Parker's Run, hoping that the group would be okay and ready to move. She thought over what Luke said about Nick and Kenny. It was obvious that they could both be reckless and cold to help their allies, but Nick was getting better at looking after her and Keith while keeping his composure and not endangering any lives. Kenny, on the other hand, has gotten worse. Clementine finally returned to the Civil War site and saw Rebecca leaning against one of the destroyed portions of the wall.

**Keith, Bonnie, and Mike**

The three survivors approached the museum in a crouched position with two walkers standing at the entrance. "Is that it?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, that's the museum." Keith replied.

"It's a f******* wreck, Keith." Mike snapped.

"You haven't been inside, yet." Bonnie said.

"Just look at it." Mike said. "There's glass all inside the place, walkers hanging around…"

"Don't judge a book by its cover." Keith said. "There might be something in there."

"Might be? You're nuts. That place is destroyed." Mike said.

"We should still check it out." Bonnie said.

"Okay, sorry." Mike said. "I just really want sticking with y'all to work out. And it's been hard so far."

"How about you make it up to us by helping out with those walkers up there?" Bonnie asked as she gestured to the walkers that were limping aimlessly into the cemetery portion.

"We got your back if things go wrong." Keith said.

"Hah, that won't be any trouble for me." Mike chuckled and he approached the nearest walker. Bonnie and Keith followed behind and used a ceremonial tombstone for cover. Mike quickly took out the first walker with a hammer. It slumped to the ground from the blow with its skull caved in. Mike immediately attacked the next walker but didn't apply enough force to kill it. "Oh crap!" Mike exclaimed as the walker growled at him and proceeded towards him. Mike used the hammer and hit the walker again, but this time the walker fell to the ground dead.

Both Bonnie and Keith came out from cover and approached Mike. "Man, I'm starting to miss that slingshot. I could have really helped you back there." Keith said.

"A slingshot?" Mike asked.

"Yup, that was my primary weapon before Carver captured us." Keith said. "How else do you think I got the nickname: Boy Wonder?"

Mike shrugged as Bonnie looked around the forest's edge. "Let's get inside before more show up."

Mike nodded and led the way in. As they entered the museum, the crunching of leaves beneath their feet was replaced with the cracking of glass. "Watch out for the glass." Bonnie said. "It's everywhere."

"Yeah, I got it." Keith replied.

"Somebody's already been through here." Mike said as he turned to Keith and Bonnie. "I guess that's not a surprise."

"We need to keep a thorough eye out for anything useful." Keith said. "I know we don't have a lot of time, but we shouldn't leave anything useful behind."

"Let's just make a sweep." Mike said. "I really don't want to go back empty-handed." Bonnie nodded and headed to a few of the displays to look for anything that could be deemed useful. This left Keith to look around the museum.

He was too traumatized when he first visited the museum to check all of the displays, so he made it a priority to look at all of them. As he was looking at one of the displays, he eyed a gray coat on the ground. "Hey, I found a coat. It could be used to keep Rebecca warm."

"Hey, yeah." Bonnie said. "That'll work."

"Uh… no it won't." Mike said as he approached the two.

"What? Why not?" Bonnie asked.

"The color." Mike replied.

Both Keith and Bonnie looked at the coat with a weird expression. They didn't understand what Mike meant until Bonnie perked and her eyebrows rose. "Oh yeah, I didn't even think about that." Bonnie said. She then turned to Keith who still didn't catch onto the idea. "It's a Confederate coat."

Keith's eyes widened and he sighed. "Darn, I guess we'll have to figure something else out." Keith was about to chuck the coat to the ground until he heard Bonnie.

"Well, hold on." Bonnie said. Keith gripped the coat to stop himself from throwing the coat on the ground as Bonnie continued, "Let's hold onto it anyway, just in case we don't find something else."

"She's going to be mad if we bring that back." Mike said as he started to walk away.

"Well Mike, we don't have many options. If we find something else, we'll leave the coat here." Bonnie said.

"Should I put it in my backpack in the meantime?" Keith asked.

"Yeah, go on ahead." Bonnie said.

"You sure that it won't upset Clem?" Keith asked.

"Keith, come on." Bonnie said. "Clem'll understand. She knows that you're just looking for something to keep Rebecca warm. Speaking of which where did you get the leather jacket from Keith?"

"I don't know. It was underneath the two blanket that were covering me back at the tent." Keith said.

"That was probably Nick's doing." Bonnie said. Keith looked to Bonnie perplexedly which she responded, "Nick found some supplies in an abandoned car a little ways from Parker's Run. Came across it when he was checking the perimeter."

Keith's eyes widened and he asked, "Wait, an abandoned car?" Keith asked.

"Yeah, but don't worry." Bonnie said. "I already asked him if the car was abandoned recently. He told there was a layer of dust on the supplies he found."

Keith calmed down upon hearing the news and decided to continue his search. His backpack was now in the possession of a blanket, a Confederate coat, and a couple clips of ammo for his 8mm handgun. He approached the information counter that Mike had examined earlier. Keith placed a cardboard box of equipment on the ground. He then stood back up and pushed the shutter door open. However, something jammed the door from the other side. He couldn't open it any further, but he did open it enough to where he could see inside. It was exactly what they were looking for. Water, clean water.

"Over here." Keith said. Mike and Bonnie walked up to the door, and Bonnie peeked inside to see the water jug.

"Water!" Bonnie exclaimed as she stood up straight. "Bottled and clean. That's exactly what we need." Bonnie then reached for the door knob and started to turn it. However, the door was locked. "It's locked. You want to kick it down?" Bonnie asked Mike.

"That'd make an awful lot of noise." Mike replied.

"Yeah maybe. You know if only somebody was small enough, they could… maybe squeeze through that gab there." Bonnie said while eying Keith.

"Yeah, too bad we don't know anyone who could do that." Keith said. However Mike and Bonnie only stared at the boy with smirks and Mike even crossed his arms over his chest. Keith sighed knowing that the gig was up and said, "You mean me, don't you?"

"Thanks Keith." Mike said.

"Just open the door from the other side. Mike'll carry those things out. Might be a bit heavy for you." Bonnie said.

Keith went up the shutter door and tried climb in; however, he only got half way. "Dang it. I knew this was going to happen." Keith said. "I'm stuck."

"Okay." Bonnie said as she looked at the situation. "Maybe, I could push from…"

Suddenly walker shot up from behind the desk and made a grab for Keith. Keith jumped in surprise by the walker's presence and quickly went for his knife. But his hand touched nothing but his pants and air. Keith had forgotten that his dad confiscated his knife.

Bonnie pulled Keith from the other side in an attempt to free him from the walker's grasp. Meanwhile, Keith wrestled with the walker until Mike rushed over and kicked the door to the information booth. The walker growled at Mike as the man easily overpowered the walker. Mike threw the creature to the ground and kept it restrained as the creature tried to fight back. "Kill it." Mike said to Bonnie and Keith Bonnie had managed to free the boy from the gap in between the shutter door and the counter while Mike struggled with the walker.

"Keith." Bonnie said as she looked to the boy. Keith looked around frantically for anything that could be used to kill the walker until he noticed several pocket knives on the counter. More than likely, they were going to be set up as souvenirs but didn't get that far. He grabbed one of the knives and opened it. He then stabbed the struggling walker in the head.

Mike got back as the three looked on surprised the see the walker. "Well… that happened." Mike huffed.

"Okay then." Keith said. "I'm not going into anymore tight spaces." He took out the pocket knife from the walker's skull and closed the blade before he pocketed the knife.

"I'm so sorry about that Keith. We should have been more careful." Bonnie said with an apologetic stare.

"Well at least now we got something to bring back to the others." Mike said as he went over to the water jugs. He lifted one over his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around the other.

"I'll keep checking the other room." Bonnie said as she left the room.

Mike and Keith soon followed. Mike didn't seem to be affected by the filled jugs. Keith looked to the man and said, "That looks heavy."

"Eh, it's alright." Mike said as he approached the entrance. He turned to the boy and said, "I know it looks like a lot but we could all go through this pretty quick."

"We'll just have conserve it. Make it last as long as we can." Keith said as Mike placed both jugs of water on the ground.

"Yeah, but Keith we're going to run out eventually." Mike said.

"That's true, but so is this. Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father know that you need them all."

"What?" Mike asked with a questionable stare on his face.

"It's Matthew 6: 31 and 32." Keith said.

"Oh, the Bible." Mike said. "Yeah sorry, kid. I stopped going to church when I was about your age, so my Bible knowledge is limited."

"Hey guys!" Bonnie whispered to get Mike's and Keith's attention. Mike and Keith approached Bonnie and squatted down to see that a raccoon was now in the building. "It just walked on in like it owned the place. Figure it'd make a nice meal."

"We can eat raccoons?" Keith asked as Mike peeked over the wooden fence which was used for decoration purposes.

"I'd eat the shit out of that raccoon." Mike said. He received a couple of smirks to which he replied, "Not like… I mean that I would be happy to eat a raccoon. I am starving."

"Fresh meat would go a long way for Rebecca." Bonnie added.

The raccoon quickly picked up on the three who were spying on it and it ran from them with a hiss. "Shoot!" Bonnie exclaimed as she ran out from cover to block off one of the raccoon's escape routes. "Don't let it get away!" Meanwhile Mike jumped over the wooden fence to cut off another of its escape routes.

Keith ran out and blocked the only other exit for the raccoon. "Keith, where did the raccoon go?" Bonnie asked.

"You're asking me?" Keith chuckled at the adults' attempt to catch the wild animal. "I only got one eye. I don't know where it is." Keith got into a stance to widen his body to prevent the raccoon from escaping by pouncing on it.

"Oh wait!" Bonnie exclaimed. "I see it." Mike also spotted it and tried to catch it from behind, but the raccoon's quick movements allowed it to escape from him. Mike released an angry grunt which indicated that he was unsuccessful. "I got it!" Bonnie exclaimed but again the raccoon evaded capture. "Shoot! Keith get it!"

The boy tried to pounce and catch raccoon, but his timing was a tad early and the raccoon was able to slip between his fingers. "Oh shoot!" Keith exclaimed.

The raccoon ran out into the cemetery to take a defensive stance and hissed at the three survivors. Mike pulled out his gun and aimed at the raccoon. Bonnie placed her hand on his gun and said, "Don't. Gunshot'll only attract walkers."

Suddenly, the three saw two smaller raccoons come out from behind a tombstone. Mike, Bonnie, and Keith relaxed upon seeing the baby raccoons as did the supposed mother raccoon. After a couple of seconds the mother led her offspring into the safety of the forest. Keith looked to the family of raccoons and smiled.

"I'm even hungrier than what I was before." Mike said. "How did I get to a place where I'm sad I'm not eating raccoon?"

"It was fun while it lasted." Keith said.

"Yeah, it was, wasn't it?" Bonnie asked. She looked to where the raccoon family had made its escape and said, "Come on. We ought to get back to Rebecca and the others."

"Yeah, you're right." Mike said. "We've been here too long." He then went over to grab the water jugs and followed Bonnie and Keith as they exited the museum.

**Parker's Run**

"I'm not supposed to be going into labor yet Kenny." Rebecca said worriedly. "What if there is something wrong?"

"There is nothing wrong." Kenny assured her. "Babies know how to be born."

Clementine continued to approach the two still thinking over what Luke said about Kenny and Nick. Rebecca noticed the eleven year old in between her huffs and said, "Clementine!"

"What'd you find?" Kenny asked. However Clementine was still lost in thought until Kenny's voice grew louder to an almost scolding tone. "Clementine!"

Clementine immediately jumped from Kenny's exclamation and she asked, "Hmm? What?"

"What did you find?" Kenny asked with a clearly irritated tone in his voice.

"I uh… The building's observation deck is high up." Clementine replied.

"So the baby will be safe, that's good." Rebecca said. "Good job, Keith. I'm glad he has such a good eye at this kind of thing."

"There's a room up top that might be good for when Rebecca has her baby." Clementine said. "Jane's getting it open right now."

"Sounds good." Kenny said. "As soon as Mike, Bonnie, and Keith are back, we'll go."

Rebecca was now leaning against the pillar with her back and huffed, "Hey Clem." In response, Clementine walked over to Rebecca as Kenny looked down with an almost regretful stare. He knew his and Clementine's relationship was on thin ice, and he had just made it worse by snapping at her, when all she did was daze out. "I'm glad you made it back safe."

"How are you feeling?" Clementine asked.

"Scared. And it hurts." Rebecca replied with a pained grunt. She then looked to Clementine and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"What do you mean?" Clementine asked.

"I could tell that you were conflicted about something." Rebecca said. "Is everything alright?"

Clementine stood by hesitant to respond until she said, "I'm fine. We really need to focus on your baby."

Rebecca nodded and huffed again. A tear fell from her eye and she said, "I can't stop thinking about Alvin. I wish he was here. I just can't stop thinking about him."

"Alvin was a good man." Clementine said. "He was nice to me, and he always looked out for everyone."

"That man had one of the biggest hearts of anybody, I've ever met. I should have told him that more often." Rebecca said. "I know it's a waste of time, but I can't stop thinking about all of the things I should've said to him… Things I should have talked to him about."

"Alvin told me that he thinks the baby is going to be a girl." Clementine said with her features finally turning into a smile.

"Oh yeah?" Rebecca said. "That big dummy never did have a sense for these things. I've got the feeling that this one's a boy." Rebecca looked to Clementine with a kind smile and said, "You're a good kid, Clementine. I'm glad that you'll be there to look out for this baby."

* * *

Keith, Mike and Bonnie were going down the trail and approaching Parker's Run. They saw Kenny sitting at the base of the monument looking at one of the pillars. Sarah was still in a withdrawn position with her back against the wall. "Come on you got to be tired by now?" Bonnie asked.

"Nope, I can do this all day." Mike replied. However he was starting to huff indicting that he was struggling with the five gallon jugs.

"Oh no." Rebecca said as she gripped her stomach. She let out an ear-piercing scream which scared Clementine and made everyone focus on her.

Mike, Bonnie, and Keith ran towards the woman as Kenny got up and assisted her. He gripped her hand and said, "It's alright. Just breathe, just breathe." Even Sarah was now alerted to the situation from her withdrawn position.

"Okay, okay!" Rebecca shouted. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!"

"What's going on?" Bonnie asked.

"Alright, perfect timing." Kenny said. "Come on. She's about to give birth. We got to get her to the observation deck."

"Guys!" Nick exclaimed. Everyone looked over to see him running to the group. He finally reached them and huffed.

"What? What is it?" Bonnie asked.

"Nick, are you okay?" Clementine asked.

"Boy, what is wrong?" Kenny asked.

"Walkers… tons of them. They're heading this way." Nick huffed. As if on cue, the forest surrounding the monument started to pop with walkers.

"Oh f***!" Kenny exclaimed. He then turned to Nick with a glare and asked, "What the hell were you doing? Why did you let them get this close to us?"

"I didn't, asshole!" Nick snapped. "I had my own area to cover. I went to go check up on Luke because of his injury, and I was met with this."

"There isn't any time to play the blame game!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"You're right." Kenny said as he relaxed. He looked to Rebecca and said, "You keep that baby safe." Kenny then turned to the herd that was heading for the group. He picked up a tire iron off of the ground and approached the herd.

"Shit." Nick spat. "He's going to get himself killed." He approached the herd with his gun at the ready.

"Nick?" Clementine said worriedly.

Nick turned around to stare at the girl and said, "I'll be fine, kiddo." He then looked to Bonnie and Mike and said, "Get Bec to the observation deck." He turned to Sarah and said, "Sarah, follow them, okay?" Sarah nodded in response. Nick's gaze finally fell to Keith and he said, "Keith, keep Clem safe and get to the observation deck."

"You got it." Keith replied. Nick smiled at the two children who he has cared for up to recent before turning around and running to assist Kenny.

…**To be continued.**

**A/N: Hah, I was worried about Nick becoming a guardian for Keith in Chapter 5. Now I got Nick being a guardian to Clementine and Keith. I guess a story really does write itself.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Slight Spoiler: I'm going to get this out of the way. I'm very sorry santiago poncini20. Now on with the FanFiction.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Nick joined alongside Kenny as the two men approached the slow moving herd. They each attacked with their weapon of choice. Nick struck his walker with the butt of his rifle as Kenny hit his walker with the tire iron. Nick stopped when his walker was no longer responsive. However, Kenny continued his angry assault past the point of the walker's death.

Meanwhile, Bonnie, Rebecca, Sarah, Clementine, Keith, and Mike scrambled for the observation deck. Along the way, Bonnie looked back to see Kenny's ruthless onslaught. "Clem, I…I don't think he's okay." Bonnie said. "He's losing it."

"Shit." Rebecca muttered to see the ruthless violence as well.

"He's doing it to protect us." Clementine said trying to ignore the insane man's grunts of beating a walker's face in.

"Sure but-" Bonnie said.

"We need to hurry and get to the observation deck." Keith said.

"Yeah okay." Bonnie said as she continued to support Rebecca. The group left the Civil War site as Kenny's grunts continued with the smashing of the walker's skull.

At this point, Nick was firing at walkers that were getting close to the two. He turned to Kenny as the older man hit the walker one last time. "Kenny." Nick said to get his attention. "Come on, we got to go." Kenny looked around to see several walkers heading for them and even more coming from the woods. It was a herd!

Kenny and Nick finally retreated and chased after the group as the walkers approached the Civil War site.

The group approached the observation deck with Kenny and Nick finally catching up, but they weren't the only ones. Several walkers pursued the group; all the while, Rebecca cried out in pain from going into labor. Clementine, Keith, and Sarah ran on ahead towards the observation deck. However, Clementine and Keith were both able to outrun the overwhelmed teenager and ran up the stairs to see if the gift shop was open.

Clementine ran up the stairs and reached the top, first. She searched for Luke and Jane only to hear Luke say, "…That's about as human as I have felt in a long time." Clementine looked over as Keith joined her at the top of the observation deck. Clementine looked on to see Luke and Jane cuddling with each other. Jane looked up to see the two children with surprise. "I almost forgot-" Luke said as he started to follow Jane's line of vision. Luke's eyes widened upon seeing the two children and he exclaimed, "Clementine! Keith!"

"Shit. Clem, Keith, it's not… I…" Luke stuttered as he and Jane separated.

"Just explain later." Keith said. "We got a bigger problem on our hands."

"What? What is it?" Luke asked, but before he could get an answer, he watched Bonnie enter while supporting a panting Rebecca.

"Come on, let's get you comfortable." Bonnie said.

"What the f*** are you two doing up here?" Kenny snapped.

Luke and Jane shot up and Luke nervously scratched the back of his neck. "Kenny. What's going on?" At this point, everyone was on the observation deck.

"We've got who-knows-how-many walkers out there which YOU were supposed to be keeping an eye out for." Kenny said angrily. He then walked over to help Bonnie with Rebecca.

"Hey, hold on a second." Luke said as Mike placed the water on the ground in the gift shop and quickly went back outside to shut the gate to the stairs that was right next to the gift shop. "Just tell me what's going on." Luke said following Kenny.

"What's going on is that you're a f****** reckless moron." Kenny said coldly.

"I'M reckless? You know you got a lot of nerve!" Luke snapped.

"Rebecca's having her baby." Clementine said.

"Now?" Luke asked. In response, Rebecca screamed in pain.

"F***. I'm sorry." Luke apologized.

"Shit… holy shit." Rebecca huffed in pain.

"Right over here." Bonnie said as she gently lowered Rebecca onto the ground. Kenny squatted down ready to help her ease onto the ground.

Clementine crouched down and said, "You're going to be okay."

"Just breathe, Bec. Everything's going to be alright." Nick said as he placed a blanket over her legs.

"They're coming up the stairs!" Mike exclaimed from outside.

"Shit, come on. We can't let them get up here." Nick said and he left to tend with the walkers. He laid his backpack, which was full of the supplies he found within the abandoned car, on the ground.

"Here, uh, we should…" Luke said as he approached Kenny and Rebecca.

"You wanna help?" Kenny asked as he helped Rebecca. "Go out there and keep the walkers off of us. I'll do this. I've done this before."

"Keith, go. We got this." Bonnie told the boy. She didn't want Keith to see how a baby was born. Bonnie then turned to Clementine and said, "You too. I'll come with you."

"Go, I got Rebecca." Kenny told the two children and Bonnie. They headed out to see several walkers trying to get onto the observation deck. The only thing that kept them from achieving that goal was the gate which wouldn't last for very long if it wasn't supported.

"Here." Nick said as he handed an 8mm handgun to Clementine. "We gotta make sure they don't come up here. You up for it."

"I have to be." Clementine replied.

Nick placed a supportive hand on the girl's shoulder and said, "You'll be fine." Clementine smiled to his encouraging words. Nick then turned to Keith and said, "You'll be fine, too."

"You know it." Keith replied.

Suddenly, the group open fired at the herd. Nick brought up his hunting rifle and fired at the herd. Clementine and Keith joined him and all three started to fire at the herd gathered at the stairs. As they fired their guns, Rebecca's screams could be heard in the background. She was having the baby. The group kept firing at the herd only for more to show up. Every time one walker fell, two more came up to take its place.

"There's too many of them." Jane informed the group.

"Shit!" Mike exclaimed.

"Keep shooting! They're NOT getting up here!" Luke exclaimed.

"Forget it Luke! We need a new plan!" Nick exclaimed. Everyone spotted the gate as it started to rattle. It was going to break open if the walkers kept putting more pressure on it.

Mike, Jane, and Bonnie ran over to keep the gate from opening by leaning against it as Luke hacked at the oncoming walkers. "Find something to block this gate." Mike exclaimed.

"Help us, Nick!" Bonnie exclaimed.

However, Nick was looking around for anything that could be used to block the gate. "Luke, the cannon! Help me get the cannon to the gate!" Nick said as he went to the said object.

Yeah, okay." Luke said as Rebecca's screams could be heard again. Luke joined Nick as both men leaned against the old cannon ready to push it in front of the gate. "Ready… push." Luke instructed. Nick and Luke started to push the cannon towards the gate as Sarah, Clementine, and Keith watched on. Keith was close to the gift shop but Clementine and Sarah were out in the deck to watch Nick and Luke push the cannon against the gate.

Luke and Nick proceeded to the gate with cannon until several wooden planks broke, and one of the cannon wheels fell through the floor boards. "Oh shit!" Luke exclaimed as he jumped back. The cannon's weight was too much for the poorly maintained deck to handle. The cannon fell through the deck leaving a giant hole and landed to the ground below, killing several walkers in the process.

"Oh f***!" Mike exclaimed as he jumped back from the destruction of the stairs. Now the walkers had no way of reaching the group, but the deck was also unstable.

"What the f*** is going on out there?" Kenny exclaimed as the deck started to shake.

Everyone heard it. It sounded like metal groaning from too much pressure. Nick looked up to see the metal plate that kept the metal restraint in place was starting to lose its grip. Nick immediately looked over to see Clementine standing a couple of inches away from Sarah. He quickly ran for Clementine and grabbed her as the large section of the deck shook. "Get back! Get back!" Luke exclaimed as Nick jumped back with Clementine from what could have been her possible death of being crushed by the deck. Nick and Clementine got up, and he hugged Clementine protectively as the girl shook from yet another near death experience. Nick saved her and he was even comforting her in the form of the hug. It was then that Clementine knew that Nick was her guardian. Not Kenny. Nick looked after her and kept her from danger. Kenny was only able to do that once.

However, Sarah wasn't as fortunate. She fell with a frightened scream along with the majority of the deck to the ground below. Jane, on the other hand was hanging on by Luke's hand as he tried to get her back on the deck. Keith ran up to investigate the situation as Luke grunted, "F***. F*** hurry. I can't hold on."

Keith looked below and saw Sarah struggling to free herself from the wooden deck. "Ahhh. Help me!" Sarah pleaded.

"Jane, help Sarah!" Keith said.

"Are you kidding me?" Jane asked. "Help me up."

"He's right. We have to try and help her." Luke said.

Jane looked to the doomed teenager down below and sighed before she dropped down to the ground below. Luke and Keith watched on as Jane went to the teenager's aid. She tried to lift the wooden debris off of Sarah but Sarah remained withdrawn and panicked because of the walkers. "Come on, go." Jane told Sarah.

"Sarah, you got to trust Jane." Keith said. However, a part of the wooden board broke off from what was left of the deck and hit Jane on the head.

Jane was dazed by the unexpected hit and fell back as Sarah continued to panic. The walkers were now closer to the teenager and she panicked. She screamed in horror as she tried to escape the walkers but she was trapped. "AHHH! AHHHH! DADDY, I-" Sarah couldn't finish her sentence as both walkers grabbed onto her and started to bite down on her. Her ear-piercing screams echoed as the group watched the death of the young, innocent teenager. Her screams faded as the walker continued to eat the doomed teenager.

Jane had to get back on the deck but a couple walkers blocked her escape route. Before Jane could strike at either walker. A gunshot put down both walkers. Jane looked up and was surprised to see that Keith had covered her. "Go, I'll shoot any that get near you." Keith said.

Jane nodded, and she climbed up to what was left of the deck by using the debris and torn up sections of the deck. Luke and Keith looked down below to see Sarah's body. Both were filled with remorse and Jane approached them. "There was nothing I could have done." Jane said.

"We did everything we could do." Keith said. "She just… lost her will to survive. It's no one's fault."

Suddenly everyone could hear Rebecca scream. "Push!" Kenny exclaimed. The group looked over to see Rebecca struggling with the end of her pregnancy as Kenny tried to help her.

"Oh shit." Jane muttered as she watched on to see the walkers crawl up to where the group was. "They're climbing up."

"What?" Bonnie asked as she and the rest of the group went to the edge of the deck to investigate.

"They're going to make it up here." Jane replied.

"F***!" Nick exclaimed.

"Does this shit ever end?" Luke asked as the walkers continued to climb up to where the group was.

"We got to destroy the deck." Keith said.

"Yeah, you're right." Luke said. "He's right! Drop the whole deck!"

"Drop the… are you f****** crazy?" Mike exclaimed.

"There's nothing else we can do." Nick said as he kept Clementine close to him.

"How are we going to do that?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't know." Luke said. "Look around."

"We don't have to look around." Keith said. He then pointed to the other metal plate and said, "That's the only reason why the deck's still up."

"Yeah, that'll work." Luke said when he looked to what Keith was pointing at.

"Here kid." Mike said as he handed his hammer to Keith.

"I'm not tall enough to reach. Give me a boost, Mike." Keith said. Mike obliged and placed the boy on his shoulders. Now being able to reach the metal plate, Keith placed the spike of the hammer in between the loosened plate that kept what was left of the deck up and the wall that it was attached to. He twisted his wrist with the hammer in his hand and started to bend the metal plate.

"Keith!" Luke exclaimed.

"Hurry up!" Mike exclaimed.

"Move it!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"I'm going as fast as I can." Keith replied as he turned around to address the group. He then looked back to his work and turned the hammer around to strike at the metal plate a couple times which caused it to break off. The deck started to shake, causing everyone to back up. "Watch it!" Luke said. He didn't want what happened to Sarah happen to anyone else.

"Son of a bitch!" Mike exclaimed. The deck finally collapsed and crushed any of the walkers along the way down. The walkers below now had no chance of climbing up to the group and several growled in frustration. Mike placed Keith on the ground and took back his hammer.

Nick huffed as he finally released Clementine from the protective hug. "Damn… that was too close." Nick said.

"Oh… oh no." Bonnie whimpered. Everyone looked towards Bonnie and saw that she was staring inside the gift shop. Rebecca's screams were gone and were now replaced with her panting.

The group went inside to see Kenny holding a non-responsive baby in his hands. Rebecca's panting turned into whimpering as both Luke and Nick looked down sadly. All the people who died, all of their struggles were in vain. "No…" Clementine said sadly as the baby remained unresponsive.

Suddenly the baby coughed and started to cry. Its cry was music to everyone's ears, Clementine's and Rebecca's especially. Kenny couldn't believe his eyes. He started to go through a mixture of emotions as the baby boy in his arms reminded him so much of his deceased son's birth. The group smiled at the new and welcomed addition and gathered around the baby as Kenny held him.

Keith approached Kenny, Rebecca, and the newborn and said, "We uh… we better get him warm." Keith looked to Nick and continued, "Nick, you still got those supplies?"

"Yeah, I'm on it." Nick said as he went to retrieve his backpack.

"Mike, we're going to need that water now." Keith said. "We got to get him cleaned up." Mike nodded and he went to retrieve one of the five gallon jugs. Keith took off his jacket and looked to Kenny. "I got him. Carlos taught me, so I know what to do."

"Alright." Kenny said. He handed the newborn to Keith and the boy proceeded to clean the baby with a clean washcloth which was provided by the supplies that Nick had found. Keith kept the newborn warm with a green baby blanket as he cleaned him.

The baby released a couple of whimpers as Keith continued to clean him. Keith finished and placed a diaper, onesie, and a pair of warm socks on the newborn, which was provided by the supplies that Nick had found in the abandoned vehicle. Keith finished as he wrapped the baby in a warm blanket handed him to the new mother. "Congratulations, Rebecca." Keith said.

"Thank you, Keith." Rebecca said as she accepted the baby. "Thank you, all of you." Keith walked over and placed his jacket back on. He proceeded to go outside as everyone else helped and congratulated the mother.

A few minutes later, Clementine joined Keith as he looked down to the mess and walkers below. Keith huffed as Clementine leaned her body against his. In turn, Keith wrapped his arm around the girl's shoulders. They both enjoyed a couple minutes of silence as Keith's eye examined the beginning of the cold and starry night. "I love you." Clementine said.

Keith looked to her to see her staring at him with an affectionate smile. "I love you, too." He then looked down sadly at the debris on the ground. That debris represented Sarah's burial. "I'm going to miss her." Keith said.

"Me too." Clementine added.

"But you know? Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." Keith said.

"What's that?" Clementine asked as she tried to remember where she heard those words before.

"That's Psalms 30: verse 5." Keith replied. "In a situation like this, it's easy to think that Sarah died which is the weeping, but now, where do you think she is?"

"In Heaven." Clementine replied.

"That's right." Keith said as he looked up the sky. "She's up there. She has no more pain, no more sadness, no more worry. And that is the joy that comes in the morning."

Clementine looked up to the sky for a second, but then looked back down. She allowed her eyes to slowly close until Keith chuckled, "I'd say someone's tired." He was now staring at the tired eleven year old.

"I am pretty sleepy." Clementine replied as her eyes opened wide again.

"I think we all are." Keith said. "Let's go and sleep inside where it's warmer." Clementine nodded and she proceeded to get up. Keith followed her, and the two headed inside where most of the group had settled down for the evening.

"Hey, there you are." Nick said as he approached the two children. He was carrying a purple hooded sweatshirt in his hand. "Are you okay, Keith? Today has been… well it's been a pretty long day."

"Yeah, I'm alright." Keith replied. "I'm going to go and get some sleep."

"Alright, Boy Wonder. Good night." Nick said.

"Thanks, you too." Keith said as he walked over to one of the unoccupied floor spaces.

Nick looked to Clementine and said, "Here." He handed the eleven year old the purple hooded sweatshirt that was in his hand and continued, "I better give it to you before I forget. Where we're going, it's only going to get colder."

"Thank you Nick and thank you for saving my life today." Clementine said.

"No problem." Nick said. "Better get some sleep, kiddo. I know that I'm tired after today." Nick then retreated to his sleeping spot, while Clementine followed Keith's routine of finding a sleeping spot for the evening.

**Hours Later**

The groans of the walkers had filled the air for hours and were not successful in waking up anyone in the group. It wasn't until Rebecca's baby started to make noise that someone other than the mother herself and Kenny, who was keeping watch, had stirred.

Keith got up upon hearing the baby and looked to Rebecca and the baby with a smile. Rebecca looked to the boy and said, "Hey Keith."

"Hey. How's he doing?" Keith asked as he got up to sit down next to Rebecca.

"He's perfect." Rebecca replied. "He's the perfect little man."

Keith smiled at the baby and said, "He looks just like Alvin."

"You think so?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah, of course." Keith replied.

"Thank you." Rebecca said as she returned to admiring the baby in her arms. Rebecca coughed slightly which made Keith look to her worriedly. "I'm fine, I'm fine. I just wish I could get warm."

Mike stirred from his sleep and looked to Keith upon hearing Rebecca's comment. "Keith, how about giving her that coat we found." Keith nodded and pulled out the Confederate coat from his backpack. "Sorry, you know, about the color." Mike said as he laid back down to get more sleep.

"You really think that I care about that?" Rebecca inquired. She looked back to Keith and said, "Do you… want to hold him?"

"Could I?" Keith asked.

"Of course. You're family." Rebecca replied. "Here." She handed the baby to the boy.

Keith looked down to the baby with a kind stare as the newborn started to cry. Keith shushed him and started to rock him gently in his arms. "It's alright little guy. I got you." Keith said comfortingly. The baby soon calmed down and even started to close his eyes, ready for sleep.

"You're a natural." Rebecca said.

"No, I only got experience." Keith said.

"Look at you. You're like a big brother to him." Kenny said. "Here, let me take him." Kenny said as he took the baby from Keith's grip and said, "You both should rest, especially you." Kenny said as he looked over to Rebecca.

"When's the last time you slept, Kenny?" Rebecca asked worriedly.

"About two years ago. I'm fine." Kenny said. The older man turned to the baby in his arms and said, "But somebody's going to have to watch you while your mama gets her beauty sleep." Kenny brought the baby close to him and sniffed him. "You never forget that smell." Kenny said.

Rebecca nodded and relaxed against the wall, allowing sleep to take over. Kenny walked away to get himself comfortable with the baby, and Keith stayed where he was until he noticed Jane out of the corner of his eye. Jane looked over the group until she left her spot which was outside the gift shop

The loner started to walk away from gift shop with Keith following her. Jane hadn't noticed that the boy was following her and the loner looked through a caged portion of the gate next to the gift shop.

"You're leaving now, aren't you?" Keith asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Jane jumped from the boy's question and muttered, "Aw shit… Yeah, I'm leaving." Jane then opened the gate quietly.

"I don't quite understand. You became so invested in our group, but now you want to leave?" Keith said.

"I just need to go…" Jane said. "My sister, Jaime… Sarah… I'm not going to stick around… and watch it happen to Clementine too."

"It won't happen. Nick and I have been keeping sharp eye on her." Keith said.

Jane shook her head unconvinced by what the boy was saying and said, "Listen, before I go, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for thinking of you as your dad. You proved to me today that you're nothing like him. Hopefully, you can forgive me."

"I'm a Christian, Jane." Keith replied. "I don't hold grudges; holding a grudge is against my faith."

"Thanks kid." Jane said. She started to head for the stairs as Keith walked up and followed her with his only good eye. Jane stopped descending the stairs and looked to Keith. "Listen, when the shit hits the fan, cause it always does, remember that you and Clementine can make it on your own. It's not an option for everyone… If things start heading south, don't let them drag you down with them. You don't owe them anything."

"I owe these people a lot." Keith said. "They've kept me safe, looked out for me and Clem. I wouldn't be here without them."

"Well, they can't keep you safe forever." Jane said.

"They don't have to." Keith said. "God has protected me and Clementine up to this point. As long as I remain loyal to Him, I will always be safe. Clementine's the same way. She is Christian and she believes in God. He protects her."

Jane sighed. She felt as though Keith was missing the point. Jane didn't quite understand the boy since she wasn't Christian herself and she merely said, "Take care of yourself." Jane then continued down the stairs. Keith looked down the stairs and heard a door open and shut, signaling Jane's departure from the group.

Keith sat down on the edge of the second floor for a couple of seconds until he heard footsteps from behind. He turned to look at Luke who said, "Hey. Thought you'd be asleep by now. You okay?"

Keith looked down and said, "No. A lot has happened today. Some good, some bad."

"Yeah, that's for sure." Luke said. "Temperature's dropping, we're low on food. I think we've got to stay put for a while, you know, for Rebecca and the baby. So I'm thinking that as soon as it gets light, Jane and I should go explore, see if we could find some place to scavenge."

Keith shook his head in response. "What? What is it?" Luke asked.

"Jane just left, Luke." Keith said. "She isn't coming back."

"Are you serious?" Luke exclaimed. "She didn't say anything about leaving to me!" He then paced angrily across the floor in the stairwell. "What the f***?" Luke leaned against wall which made Keith look to him questionably. "Dammit!" Luke spat as he hit the wall.

"Hey, keep it down." Kenny said as he appeared at the entrance of the stairwell. The baby was in his arms, and he was starting whimper.

"Sorry…. I… sorry. Just… Jane's gone." Luke said sadly. Keith got up, knowing that the two adults were about to go into an argument.

"Really? Luke? Of all the childish bullshit." Kenny spat.

"Childish? Dammit Kenny, you know what? Just lay off." Luke said as he tried to avoid the older man and headed back to the gift shop.

"No." Kenny hissed. "You put our lives, this BABY'S life at risk, so that you two could roll around like f****** teenagers!" Kenny's voice was getting progressively louder, which made the baby in his arms cry louder.

"Look, I made a mistake, alright." Luke said as he faced the older man.

"No, it's not alright!" Kenny snapped.

"You know what? We all made mistakes today. We just have to forgive each other for our shortcomings. Not everything worked out, but the most important thing did work out. Rebecca had her baby." Keith said.

"You think I made a mistake?" Kenny inquired.

"Absolutely. You yelled at Clementine and blamed her for Sarita's death." Keith replied.

Kenny jumped back at the mention of his mistreatment of Clementine and blaming her for Sarita's death. "How did you-?" Kenny asked.

"Mike and Bonnie told me on the way to the museum." Keith said.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I f***** up." Luke said. "…But y'know what? Jane, she made an offer and… f***… I needed it. I mean look around you." It was now Luke's voice that got progressively louder, but unlike Kenny, his voice was booming and very loud. He looked out to the world in front of him and dramatically exclaimed, "Everything is SHIT! So forgive me for wanting to enjoy ONE MOMENT of somethin else!"

"Fine, but this baby… he's what matters now, got it? So get your shit together." Kenny said as Luke turned back to the older man.

"Kenny, where's my baby?" Rebecca asked from within the gift shop. At this point, everyone was awake within the gift shop.

"Is everything alright?" Nick asked as he exited the gift shop. Clementine stood next to him wearing her new purple hooded sweatshirt. Her blue winter coat was now unzipped since it wasn't her primary source of warmth anymore.

Kenny looked over to Nick and Clementine but quickly looked back to Luke with a glare. "Everything is fine." Luke spat and he entered the gift shop.

Keith walked inside the gift shop as Kenny said, "We're going to need a good place to raise him, which ain't here. We gotta push on." Kenny approached the entrance of the gift shop and looked out to the starry night and continued, "We head north. Go to Wellington. That's our best shot."

"There's a town across the river. It might be safe there." Clementine said.

"Or at least it might be a good stop on the way." Kenny said as he stared at Luke.

"Kenny!" Rebecca snapped.

Kenny looked over to Rebecca and said, "I'm sorry." Kenny approached Rebecca and handed the newborn to his mother.

Rebecca accepted the baby as Bonnie said, "Clem's right. That might be a whole town of supplies and not that far from here."

"Whole lot better than here anyway." Kenny said. "Looks like that's our best bet. We need to get on the road as soon as possible. We leave at first light."

"Whoa, whoa! What are you talking about?" Luke inquired. "Rebecca needs rest. A few days… at the least!"

"Luke's right." Keith said. "There's no way that Rebecca's going to be able to move by morning. We're gonna have to wait a few days."

"Who made you the leader of this group?" Kenny inquired as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"No one is the leader of this group!" Keith snapped. "This is democracy." He looked around to the rest of the group and asked, "Who thinks we should stay here and let Rebecca recover?" Luke, Keith, Nick, Clementine, and Bonnie all raised their hands. Mike and Kenny were the only ones who wanted to move on. Kenny glared at the boy as everyone lowered their hands. "Looks like the decision is to stay."

"Maybe that's for the best. We don't want to push Rebecca to hard." Bonnie said.

"Just give me a day or two, Kenny. I'll be fine." Rebecca said.

"You take as long as you need to." Nick said.

"This is a mistake." Kenny said.

"Look, we should all try and get some sleep." Mike said. "It's been a long day."

Kenny released a disgruntled sigh and sent a glare towards Keith. "If Rebecca dies, that's all on you." Kenny hissed. Keith shook his head as the older man who left to sulk about the decision of not leaving immediately for Wellington.

Nick sent a glare towards Kenny as he left before he looked to Keith. "Hey listen, most of us agreed to stay put for a while. Whatever happens is not your fault."

"I know." Keith said. "I just want to keep everyone safe."

Rebecca started to cough violently which forced Luke to come to her side. "Sorry." Rebecca apologized.

"Okay Becs, it's going to be alright." Luke said. Rebecca coughed more but it wasn't as violent.

"You got her, brother?" Nick asked Luke.

"Yeah, I got her." Luke replied.

Nick nodded and looked to Clementine and Keith. "Come on, let's get some sleep." The two children nodded and followed Nick as he went to rest against the wall. He breathed out and closed his eyes.

Clementine and Keith both laid down in front of each other and stared at each other's eyes. The two soon fell asleep as the cold wind outside picked up. It was getting colder now and snow was starting sprinkle across the landscape. Winter had come…

…**To be continued.**

**A/N: *sigh* It sucks to kill off an awesome character like Sarah, but there was nothing I could do with her.**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Okay y'all remember Chapter 17? Well there's going to be a part in here that is related to that.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

The group had spent five days within the gift shop of the observation deck. During those five days, plenty of snow had formed, and it was now slightly challenging to walk. The cold vicious wind made things worse and made everyone in the group hug their bodies for warmth. This proved especially true with Clementine and Keith. Kenny led the way with Luke and Nick close behind. Bonnie supported Rebecca while Clementine and Keith followed shivering slightly. Finally, Mike brought up the rear.

After hours of walking, Rebecca fell from exhaustion which made everyone stop in their tracks. Thankfully, Bonnie was able to catch her and prevented her from getting hurt.

"Are you alright?" Bonnie asked.

"She's exhausted." Luke said. He looked to Kenny and glared at the older man. "We all are." Kenny had remained persistent back at the observation deck about heading north would be the best solution and pushed Rebecca to recover more quickly than she should have recovered.

"I can keep going." Rebecca said as she started to get up. Bonnie helped her stand up and the two proceeded. The group continued further as Luke joined Kenny at the front of the group.

"We shoulda left right away, instead of waitin around. We coulda found more food and been someplace warm days ago." Kenny said.

"We did the right." Luke said. "She was in no condition to move."

"She's worse now." Kenny spat. He looked to Keith and said, "Next time, we're doing things my way."

"Then that's a dictatorship. You'll be just like my dad." Keith said. Kenny glared at the boy again before looking back to the road.

"We can always turn back." Nick suggested. Clementine looked to Rebecca worriedly. Rebecca's health was deteriorating rapidly. Her skin was becoming an unhealthy hue and her panting was getting more rigid and forced.

"That's not an option." Kenny said. "Everyone hang in there. We gotta keep moving if we're gonna make it to that town before nightfall." The wind had picked up significantly and was now wailing in the survivors' ears.

"You don't even listen to anyone else!" Luke snapped. "You just go off barkin orders. You got to lighten up, alright? You're pushing them too hard."

"You're not helping anything by arguing." Keith said.

"Well don't forget that you agreed with me about waitin to leave the camp until today." Luke said as he looked back to the boy.

"That was my mistake, then." Keith muttered.

Luke frowned at the boy and sighed.

Suddenly, Rebecca fell to the ground with an exhausted sigh. Everyone looked back to the exhausted woman as the baby wailed. Mike looked around for some place that the mother could sit down as the group gathered around the mother. His eyes stopped at some debris. "Over here." Mike said. "There's a place to sit."

Bonnie helped Rebecca stand and assisted her to a tire to sit down. "Rebecca, let me take the baby." Kenny said worriedly as Bonnie lowered Rebecca onto the tire.

"It's okay. I got him." Rebecca said.

"No, you rest for a minute." Kenny said as he approached Rebecca. "I'll watch him."

"Back off Kenny. She said she doesn't want you to take the baby." Luke snapped. "Don't be weird about it, okay?"

Rebecca shushed her baby as the two men continued to argue. "I ain't being weird about it." Kenny said.

"Yes, you kind of are." Luke said.

"Will you two stop fighting for like two f****** seconds?" Nick inquired. "You're driving the rest of us nuts!"

"Yeah, no kidding. All you two do anymore is argue." Keith added.

Kenny ignored the other two survivors' pleas and said, "Don't get all bent into a pretzel, I was just tryin to help. People are too damn sensitive at times."

Suddenly, everyone was caught off guard by an exclamation that came from a few feet away. "Hello?" Clementine jumped upon hearing the voice. It was a very familiar voice, the same voice that she heard almost a week ago. The voice chimed with a metal creaking that was also very familiar. It was Arvo! The group looked over to see the Russian teenager limp closer to them.

"What is this?" Mike asked.

Clementine looked to the horizon almost terrified upon seeing the teenager. "Clem you alright?" Nick asked upon seeing the girl. "Do you know this guy?"

"Yeah." Clementine replied. "Jane and I were trying to get the gift shop open, but then he showed up."

"So that's the guy?" Luke asked.

"You know this souvabitch?" Kenny asked. "Well what does he want?"

"I-I don't know…" Clementine replied. "I told Jane to give Arvo the medical supplies back… I don't trust him."

"Everybody, keep your eyes open." Luke said.

Nick looked around the area and his eyes widened. "F***." Nick muttered. "Luke, I don't like this, man. This is a perfect ambush spot."

"Just calm down, Nick." Luke said. "Just don't make any sudden moves, alright?" The group slowly approached the teenager.

Arvo managed to meet them half way as Kenny pulled out his 8mm handgun and hid it behind his back. "Hello! You are Clementine." Arvo said as he looked to the girl. Clementine instinctively grabbed onto Keith's hand for comfort. She didn't trust Arvo and the fact that he was here couldn't be coincidence.

"What's going on here, friend?" Kenny asked in a calm demeanor. "You got people with you? Where are they?"

"You're not out here on your own, are you?" Luke asked.

As if on cue, a Russian woman came out of the bushes holding a handgun which was aimed at the group.

"F***, Luke!" Nick exclaimed as he aimed at a man armed with an assault rifle. Another man, with tattoos all over his body and carrying a shotgun appeared from behind. It was an ambush!

"These are my friends. We stay hidden for safety, but you we know." Arvo said. "You are Clementine." At this point, the group was even more on edge than before. Mike and Nick covered the back of the group from the man armed with a shotgun. Everyone else looked around to see that the Russian group had surrounded them.

The Russian woman spoke to Arvo, to which the teenager responded. Their language was hard to understand and no one in the group could understand what she or Arvo were saying. The man with the shotgun laughed and asked Arvo something else in Russian.

"What's he saying?" Clementine asked over the wind's undying howl.

"He thinks it's funny that I got robbed by a little girl." Arvo replied.

"Robbed?" Kenny asked as he looked to Clementine. He didn't know if the girl had robbed the teenager. She never mentioned him.

"…And now they want you and your friends to put down the guns so we can take all your things." Arvo said.

"Whoa, whoa, hang on now." Luke said trying to calm the situation.

"What the hell?" Kenny said.

"Nobody get excited." Mike said.

"It wasn't me who took your stuff, remember?" Clementine said. "I gave you your medicine back. It was Jane! It wasn't any of us!"

"Jane?" Arvo inquired. "Where is the other woman?" At this, the group of Russian started to speak their own language. The man armed with the assault rifle questioned Arvo. Arvo answered his question and looked back to Clementine. "I did not see a woman who was with you." Arvo said.

"Jane left the group several days ago." Keith said. "Your guess is as good as ours on where she is."

"It's a trap! I know it!" Arvo exclaimed.

"Hey, hey, HEY!" Kenny warned.

Arvo made a move closer to Clementine as if to steal from her first. However, Luke stopped his advances by aiming his assault rifle at Arvo. This forced the Russian woman and Bonnie to aim at each other. Kenny and the Russian man armed with the assault rifle aimed at each other. And Nick and Mike aimed at the Russian man who was armed with a shotgun. The cold howling wind seemed to die down as almost each person in the two group glared at each other.

"This can be easy for you." Arvo said.

"You're right." Keith said. "We'll forget that we even saw each other. We did nothing to hurt you or your group. Jane is not here."

"That is not happening." Arvo replied. "We don't make deals with people."

"We did nothing to you." Keith said.

"It doesn't matter if you did anything to us, we still rob you." Arvo said. "That is how my group and I work."

"No, stop!" Clementine pleaded. "We have a baby!"

The baby in Rebecca's arms began to whimper as Arvo looked over to see the infant. His eyes widened in surprise and he started to panic. His group had robbed people before, but they have never robbed a group with a baby in it. "You have a baby?" Arvo asked. Arvo then began to talk to his group as the baby's cries filling the air.

The Russian man armed with an assault rifle stepped closer to examine the situation and soon the air was filled with the cries of the infant and the heated argument that was in a foreign language. Arvo frantically tried to tell his group of the new situation, but all they seemed to care about was stealing from the group in front of them.

"Drop that now, or I'm going to f****** shoot!" Kenny exclaimed.

"Don't even think about it, motherf******!" Luke exclaimed as he got between Clementine and the Russian woman who had her gun aimed at Clementine.

"Get behind." Keith said as he pulled Clementine behind him. She obliged as both groups continued to panic.

"Everybody be cool!" Mike said. "This doesn't have to happen!"

Clementine looked around at the situation with horror and shock until she looked over to see Rebecca slumped down. Everyone was too distracted to notice that the woman had died. Clementine watched in horror as the recently turned Rebecca snapped its head up and growled looking for food.

Clementine's eyes widened when she saw the walker looked down to the baby in its arms. "HELP! REBECCA NO!" Clementine exclaimed. Keith looked over to see the walker and quickly aimed at the deceased mother and fired.

The shot killed the walker which made Luke look back. His eyes widened in horror upon seeing the deceased mother. "NO!" Luke exclaimed. Suddenly, The Russian man from the brush opened fire and made everyone duck. Keith pushed Clementine to the ground so that she wouldn't get hit. Kenny started to fire at the Russian man which forced him to retreat into the shrubbery for cover.

Meanwhile, Bonnie shot and killed the Russian woman, much to Arvo's shock and horror.

"NNNOOOOO!" Arvo cried. Bonnie ran for cover as Arvo tried in vain to revive the woman.

Luke immediately ran for cover as did Nick and Keith. They found it in the form of a destroyed wall. Mike was successful in shooting the other Russian man's leg and made the tattoo-covered man lose his balance. However, the Russian man returned the favor by shooting randomly and was lucky enough to have some of the shot hit Mike's arm. "Ah shit, I'm hit! I'm hit!" Mike exclaimed.

"Mike get over here!" Bonnie yelled to get his attention amongst all of the bullets being fired. Mike ran over to Bonnie as the firefight continued.

"F*** you!" Kenny spat in the direction of the shrubbery that the Russian man with the assault rifle was using for cover. "You started this shit!" Kenny was using a tree for his cover as Vitali fired back.

Clementine looked up to see the group was no longer stuck in the ambush spot. They had managed to fight their way through the dangerous predicament. "Clem!" Luke exclaimed to get the girl's attention.

"F***! We got to go get her!" Nick exclaimed as he looked to Keith. Keith nodded in agreement until they both heard Luke speak up.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Luke inquired. Keith looked over to see that Clementine was now closer to the baby. They had forgotten all about the infant.

"Clem's going after the baby." Keith said to Nick.

"Okay, I'll get Clem. You get the baby." Nick said. Keith nodded and readied himself to rescue the infant. "Luke cover us!" Nick exclaimed as he rushed out of cover. This gave Luke no time to protest and he quickly fired at the Russian man who was armed with an assault rifle. Nick ran over and shot the injured Russian man who was aiming at Clementine. Nick then helped the girl up and ran for the wall as Keith picked up the baby and returned to cover.

"Holy shit!" Luke exclaimed as Keith returned to cover. "I didn't even see him out there. Good work Keith." Luke then looked to Clementine and asked, "Clem are you alright?"

"Yeah, Nick saved my life." Clementine replied. The baby wailed in Keith's arms as the boy tried to soothe him by rocking the infant and shushing him. "Can I…?" Clementine gestured as she held out her arms to take the baby.

"Yeah, you might have better luck than me." Keith said as he handed the baby to Clementine. She shushed the crying infant as gunshots filled the air. Arvo was still desperately trying to revive the Russian woman, but she had long since passed on from her gunshot wound. One of the Russian men was also dead due to Nick's shot to his skull. Arvo had no weapon, so all that remained of the group of Russian scavengers was the Russian man who was using an assault rifle.

"Okay we got to do something, y'all." Luke said. "We can't just sit here and let this guy take hot shots at us."

"Let Kenny handle it." Keith said.

Luke looked over the situation with the Russian man keeping the group pinned down by firing his assault rifle. He was unsatisfied by Keith's call and said, "No, I'm sorry, Keith, but we got to take him out now. If I can get on your side, I can angle on him. Just cover for me."

"Brother, you're not thinking this through. Just slow down." Nick said. "You're letting the tension get to you."

"Keith, ready… now!" Luke said hastily.

Having no choice but to oblige, Keith stood up and fired at the Russian man to cover for Luke. "Hey, what're you doing?" Kenny asked, taking his eyes off of the Russian man. With no one firing at him, the Russian man shot at Luke as he made his way to Keith's side of the wall. A shot ran through Luke's calf and made yell in pain. He fell to the ground with a pained yell which allowed the Russian have another opportunity to shoot him.

"Luke, no!" Bonnie exclaimed. The Russian man aimed at Luke ready to finish off the wounded survivor until the Russian marksman retreated for cover from Kenny's shots.

Luke took the opportunity to crawl over behind the wall and groaned in pain, "Argh, dammit."

Clementine looked to Luke worriedly as she tried to soothe the baby in her arms as Nick said, "I told you to slow down, brother."

"Argh, I know." Luke groaned in pain. "F***, did it go straight through…? Shit, I just don't know. Arghhhhh!"

"I'll take a look at it after this is over." Keith said.

"I'm gonna be fine." Luke huffed. "I think I'm gonna be fine."

* * *

"It doesn't have to get any worse than it already is. You can just go." Kenny called out to the remaining Russian survivor.

The Russian man responded with a slur of his own language which made Kenny yell, "English, motherf*****!"

"I kill every one of you!" The Russian man said said in a slurred voice. He then fired at the tree that Kenny was using for cover.

Kenny looked over the snow covered ground for anything he could use to distract Vitali. His eyes looked from the wall that Luke, Keith, Nick, and Clementine were using for cover to Arvo who was still trying to revive his sister. An idea emerged in Kenny's head and he shot at the Russian man. In response, the Russian man ducked for cover as Kenny grabbed the teenager. "No, please!" Arvo begged.

Kenny held the frightened teenager at gun point and exclaimed, "Get out here, or I'll put a bullet in this kid's head!"

Clementine and Keith looked over to see Kenny having Arvo at gun point. The teenager kicked and squirmed as Clementine asked, "Kenny, what are you doing?"

"I'm ending this." Kenny said. "Get out here, right f****** now!"

The Russian man emerged from cover and spoke in his primary language which no one understood. "Quit fighting me boy." Kenny said to Arvo. He looked back up to the Russian man and asked, "You think I'm bluffing? Get out here!"

Suddenly, the body of the Russian woman jolted and finally rose up with a growl. The Russian woman had reanimated and it immediately went for the first thing that it saw, which was Keith. Keith watched on as the walker got closer to him and the group behind the wall. Keith fired his gun at the reanimated Russian woman as Arvo yelled, "NOOOO!" The teenager broke free from Kenny's grasp and ran for the Russian woman. The Russian man took his chance and fired at Kenny, but the older man ducked to evade the shots. "Natasha, Natasha! No! Please!" Arvo exclaimed as he reached his deceased woman. He then looked to Keith with a death glare. Keith was initially surprised by Arvo's stare but he did shrug it off as he saw the Russian man getting closer to Kenny speaking his native language.

The Russian man now had Kenny in his sights and he was about to finish the older man off, but the Russian man interrupted himself when he cried out in pain. His cry faded and he started to gurgle on his blood. He turned around to face Jane who had stabbed him from behind with her knife. The dying man slumped down on the nearby rock and tried to grab at Jane as the woman backed away from him. She was horrified to see the face of the dying man until Kenny walked up and shot him in the head, ending his life and not giving him a chance to come back as a walker.

Clementine tried to comfort the frightened infant in her arms as Kenny announced, "It's safe to come out!"

"Here, I got him." Bonnie said as she took the fussy baby from the eleven year old.

Nick got up and stood in front of Luke. "Here, brother." Nick said as he offered his hand. Luke accepted Nick's help and grunted as Nick got him off the ground. Clementine walked over to the loner as Kenny returned to the group with the Russian man's assault rifle in hand.

Jane sheathed her knife after retrieving it from the Russian man's neck and looked over to Luke who spoke. "Holy shit… that was uh… that was very intense."

"I thought… Man, I thought that was it." Mike said.

Clementine approached Jane and watched her look over the body of the deceased Russian man. Meanwhile, Keith picked up the shotgun that was used by the Russian man who was killed by Nick and returned to the group. "Here Nick, you might be able to make some use out of this."

"Thanks Boy Wonder." Nick said as he accepted the shotgun.

"Thanks… for coming back." Clementine said to Jane. Her voice was still laced with tension and fear from the earlier gun fight.

Jane kept her stare at the Russian man that she killed and said, "I didn't know this man… I've never killed someone that didn't wrong me in some way… that didn't deserve it. I tried to pretend that he was a walker… but… it's different."

"You saved us. He would have killed us." Clementine said.

"Yeah… that's why I did it, but… it felt wrong." Jane said.

"But you wanted me to kill Keith. And Keith has less blood on his hands than this man did." Clementine said.

"I know. Carver wronged me and I took it out on Keith." Jane said as she stared at said boy. He was watching Nick place the shotgun in his backpack for later use as Mike took over in supporting Luke. "I was wrong in doing what I did. Before I left, I did apologize, and he accepted it."

Clementine smiled and said, "I'm glad. I didn't want you guys to fight to begin with."

"It's more of my fault anyway." Jane said.

"I know." Clementine said. She then looked over to the group and asked, "So are you sure about this?"

Jane sighed and said, "As sure as I'm going to be. Let's go." The two walked over to see the group surrounding Rebecca. Her baby's cries and the howling of the wind broke through the solemn atmosphere.

Jane and Clementine joined them as the eleven year old looked to the deceased mother sadly. She and Rebecca may have started off rough, but they had become good friends over the course of the last couple of weeks. Nick placed a supportive hand on Clementine's and Keith's shoulders as the group mourned the loss of the woman.

"How did this happen?" Mike asked.

"She… turned." Luke replied. "Just like that."

"Clem spotted it first…" Bonnie said. "Warned Keith about it and he did what he had to, to protect the baby."

"This isn't your fault." Nick said. "She just… She just lost too much blood… We pushed her too hard."

"We should have done better by her." Luke said.

"Rebecca's with Alvin now and they are both comforted by God's eternal love." Keith said. He removed his backpack and pulled out his Bible. He went to one of the pages which had a book-mark in it and began to read, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we are dead in our transgressions made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved). Ephesians 2: verses 4 and 5." Keith finished as he slowly closed his Bible.

"Amen." Clementine said solemnly.

"All we can do now is look after her baby as best as we can." Keith said.

"Don't worry, Becca… We'll take care of your boy… you rest easy." Bonnie said.

The solemn atmosphere among the group was shared by everyone except for one person, Kenny. He was angry. He wanted to find someone responsible for what happened to Rebecca that wasn't part of the group. He found it in the form of the whimpering Russian teenager, Arvo. Kenny growled at the boy as he approached him. He picked him up and snapped, "You piece of shit!" Kenny then beat the teenage boy.

"Hey, hey!" Bonnie exclaimed. She quickly gave the baby to Clementine. Luke was able to stand temporarily to resolve the new conflict, but it was evident that his wound was creating an unbearable amount of pain.

"Stop!" Mike exclaimed as he pushed Kenny away from Arvo. Mike and Luke got between Kenny and Arvo as the older man glared at the two men.

"Get out of the way!" Kenny snapped.

"It's over man." Mike said. "He ain't a threat to us."

"How can you say that?" Kenny exclaimed. "Of course he is! Now get out of the way!" Kenny retrieved his handgun from it holster and aimed at Arvo.

"Whoa!" Mike exclaimed. "What the f*** are you doing?"

"Get out of the damn way, Mike!" Nick exclaimed.

"Nick?" Mike exclaimed surprised to hear that Nick wanted to see the boy shot.

"He could have killed us. Why should we care about his ass?" Nick asked.

"Finally, someone's starting to make sense around here." Kenny said.

"There is house, food… please. Please, I can take you." Arvo said.

"Bullshit!" Kenny snapped.

"No, no! It's true." Arvo said. "We have place. Not far. Food."

"See? He wants to help." Luke said.

"Oh, don't be stupid." Kenny said. "He's just trying to save his own skin. Why the hell would you help us? Huh?"

"I… I not want to see more people dead." Arvo admitted tearfully.

"Then close your eyes and I'll make it quick." Kenny said.

"Kenny back off!" Mike said.

"If he's telling the truth, it could save all of us." Bonnie said.

"No, we can't take that risk." Keith said which surprised everyone. The boy had to trust so many people in the past and for him to say that he didn't trust someone was surprising. "There's no way we can trust him, not after this."

"It's worth the risk to check this place out." Jane said. "Trust him or don't trust him, it doesn't matter. We should go anyway. We just need to be careful. It can't be far from here."

"You stay out of this!" Kenny bellowed. "You're the reason that these f****** came after us in the first place."

"Don't try to pin this on me." Jane said with a death glare.

"It doesn't matter." Keith said as he sent a glare towards Arvo. "His people would have attacked us no matter what; he said so himself. They were scavengers."

"Please… we not take from people who have baby!" Arvo said in a pleading tone. "We never do that!"

"Keith, we don't have a choice." Clementine said. "We don't have much food left, and what if there's baby formula. We can't pass that up."

Keith looked down sadly. He knew Clementine was right, but he still didn't trust Arvo. "Okay, you're right."

"Think about the baby, Kenny." Bonnie said. Kenny looked back to the baby boy that was calming down in Clementine's arms as Bonnie continued, "If there are supplies, we need 'em. We ain't going to last much longer without more food. We gotta take a chance."

"Unless someone's got a better plan…" Jane said.

Kenny looked down debating whether he should trust the teenager or shoot him. Kenny made his decision as he lowered the gun to his side and holstered the weapon. "We got somethin to tie this shitbird up?"

"Yeah, I got something." Bonnie said as she took off her backpack and pulled out some rope. At the same time, Keith used the opportunity to put his Bible back in his backpack.

"Follow me, I take you." Arvo said as Bonnie tied his wrists together.

"Just give me a reason." Kenny grumbled as he passed by the teenager to continue the walk north.

"Yeah, man. He gets it." Luke said as he started to follow.

With Arvo tied up, the group advanced further, having the Russian teenager take the lead with Kenny keeping a sharp eye on him. Mike was helping Luke to walk and Bonnie walked alongside him, holding the baby. Nick, Clementine, and Keith were walking together behind Mike, Luke, and Bonnie. And Jane was at the very back watching the group. "Are you both alright? That was a pretty close shave back there." Nick said.

"Yeah, I'm okay, thanks to you." Clementine said as she smiled at Nick. Nick smiled back at her, until he turned to Keith.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just…" Keith trailed off as he looked to Arvo.

"Yeah, I know, Boy Wonder." Nick said. "I don't trust him. I think it's a mistake to follow him."

Clementine looked back to Jane. The loner gave a small smile and gestured her to come back and talk to her. Clementine looked to Nick and said, "I'm going to go talk to Jane."

"Okay, kiddo." Nick said as he kept an eye towards the front of the group.

**Nick's and Keith's Conversation**

With Clementine now talking to Jane, it gave Nick the time to catch up with Keith. Nick looked to the boy and smirked. "You've gotten taller. I remembered when you first came to the cabin with Clem, and she was taller than you. Now you both are the same height."

"Yeah." Keith chuckled. He then looked down sadly.

Nick noticed this and asked, "What's wrong?"

"You mentioned the cabin. It's just hard… you know. There used to be so many people with us, good people." Keith said.

"Yeah… I disappointed my uncle." Nick said.

"How can you say that after everything you've went through? After everything you've done?" Keith asked.

"It's true." Nick said as he lowered his head sadly. "I never did anything right while my uncle was still alive."

"I wouldn't say that." Keith said. "You stitched up my arm when you didn't have to."

"Yeah and it was my fault that you got shot to begin with." Nick said.

"You apologized to Clementine about what happened when we first came to the cabin." Keith said.

"I was being a dick. I had to apologize." Nick said.

"Yes, but you apologized." Keith said. Keith was interrupted by the arguing at the front of the group temporarily but he continued, "That shows something about you. Nick, Pete didn't think you were a bad man. He just thought that you were stuck as a kid, not wanting to take responsibility. Look what's going on now, you're a strong, responsible member of the group who's looking after two of its youngest members."

"I-I guess you're right. Thanks Boy Wonder." Nick said as he ruffled the boy's shaggy brown hair. Keith smiled at Nick as the man said, "I'm going to have to cut that hair at some point." Nick said sarcastically.

"Uh, no, not happening." Keith replied. Both Keith and Nick chuckled at each other's antics and continued to follow the group.

**Jane's and Clementine's Conversation**

"Look… I know that you're probably pissed about me leaving… when I heard the gunshots I… I knew it was a mistake." Jane explained to Clementine. "If it helps, the thing I'd normally do is walk away for good… but I didn't."

"I'm not sure if you realized it back there, but we probably wouldn't have made it without you." Clementine said. "I'm glad you're back."

"Thanks, that's… that's good, because you're probably 90 percent of the reason I came back." Jane said. "And it'd probably get pretty annoying if you hated me the whole time."

"Wouldn't want it be annoying?" Clementine asked with a smirk.

"No, that would suck." Jane replied. She then became very serious and said, "I'm going to try and make this work…" Jane looked to the group in front of her and sighed. "All I can do is… promise you, I won't abandon you again. Which to be fair, I've never done before, even though I probably should have… a few times."

The two were interrupted by Mike who said, "You don't have to point the gun at him the whole time."

"You forget what we just went through?" Kenny asked.

"He ain't going anywhere Kenny." Bonnie said. "No need to get your arm all sore."

"I'm worried about Kenny." Jane said. "He's… He's in a very dark place. We gotta keep an eye on him. Everything he's been through… that he's lost… it changing him."

"I think he'll be okay." Clementine said. "Kenny's tougher than you think."

"Maybe…" Jane said. She then stopped the eleven year old and said, "You're the only one that he trusts. That he really trusts. That means you're the one that's gonna have to pull him back."

"I'll do my best." Clementine said.

"I know." Jane said with a small smile on her features. The loner trusted Clementine the most out of the entire group.

Bonnie looked back to the four group member that had lagged behind and said, "Come on slowpokes!" Keith, Nick, Clementine, and Jane quickened their pace to catch up with the group. They continued on the trail; some of the group were faced with anger and loss, which was directed at other group members.

Nick didn't like how the group was going at this rate. They would have to work together if they wanted to survive, but how can they when most of the group was at each other's throats over what happened with Rebecca and Arvo.

…**To be continued.**

**A/N: Here it is, the last episode until Season 3 comes out. If you are confused, Nick's and Keith's conversation happened at the same time as Jane's and Clementine's. It is similar to when Clementine and Jane checked out the observation deck, while Mike, Bonnie, and Keith went to the museum in Chapter 17.**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: I'm going to try and fix some of the earlier chapter's mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

The group had been walking for several hours in silence. Kenny refused to light up even slightly on Arvo much to Mike's protests. Luke's injury was causing more stain on him and forced him to slow down, until suddenly, he felt a sharp pain that formed in his leg. The pain was so intense that it forced him to collapse with a pained groaned.

"Wait up!" Bonnie called to Arvo and Kenny. "Wait. We need to stop."

"No! No, I'm… I'm fine, okay?" Luke said. "I just need a second. Sorry, I just… I just put more weight on it than I should've."

"Alright, wait there." Kenny said to Arvo. However, Arvo continued forward as Kenny looked back to see if Luke was okay. He turned around and grumbled upon seeing that the Russian teenager was still limping forward. "Hey! What'd I say?" Kenny snapped. He approached the teenager angrily and pushed him to the ground. "When I tell you something, you f****** listen, understand?"

Mike helped Luke sit down and quickly directed his attention to Kenny. "Kenny, come on. There's no need for that!"

"He's gettin what he deserves." Kenny said as he turned to Mike. Kenny turned back to the teenager and snapped, "I'm f****** talking to you!"

Clementine approached Kenny and called, "Kenny, please, he understands."

Kenny looked back to the eleven year old out of the corner of his eye and then back to Arvo. "Just f****** stay put." Kenny growled at the frightened teenager.

The rest of the group looked to Kenny with horrified expressions. Arvo did nearly get them all killed, but that was hours ago. Distrust would have been understandable, but Kenny's rage was not, and it was still strong as if the boy had done something recently to harm the group.

"I'm gonna have a word with Kenny. He doesn't have to treat him that way." Mike said. "Kid's been through enough. You alright here?" Mike asked Bonnie.

"Yeah, yeah. Go on and talk to him. I got Nick if I need anything." Bonnie said.

"Okay." Mike said. He then walked over to talk to Kenny.

"Here, you take the baby, I'll try to take care of Luke's wounds." Bonnie said as she tried to hand the baby off to Nick.

"Wh-What?" Nick exclaimed as he jumped back and started to backpedal from Bonnie and the infant. "No, no, no! I'm not good with babies. I'm only good with kids, that's it."

"Oh come on. Someone's going to have to watch him." Bonnie said. "And you're no good at stitching up wounds."

"I'll take him." Keith said with his hands up to accept the baby.

"You sure?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Keith said.

"Thanks Keith." Bonnie said as she handed the infant to the boy. Keith nodded and walked over to one of the large rocks nearby to sit down with the baby in his arms.

"I'm going to go on watch." Nick said. Bonnie nodded understandingly to the young man. With Bonnie's nod, Nick walked away to guard the pathway that the group had went through. He wanted to make sure that they weren't being followed.

Bonnie knelt down as Luke huffed from the pain in his leg. "What is it with you guys?" Bonnie asked.

"What do you mean?" Luke asked.

"Every man I've known is always tryin to let each other know how tough they are. Put em in their place." Bonnie said in a criticizing tone as Clementine walked up to help Luke. "Buncha dominant alpha male horse shit. And it all ends the same way."

Meanwhile, the conversation between Kenny and Mike was intensifying which forced Jane to walk over to resolve the conflict.

"Don't look at me. I ain't that guy." Luke said. Clementine smirked at him. She knew that statement was wrong.

"Oh, that ain't true." Bonnie said. "You've gotten into your fair share of pissing matches, too."

"Do I?" Luke asked.

"Are you kidding me? Yes." Bonnie said.

"They're not all like that." Clementine said as she applied pressured to Luke's gunshot wound. "What about Keith?"

"Keith's still just a boy." Bonnie said as she stared over at Keith who was making funny faces in an attempt to make the baby in his arms laugh. Bonnie turned back to Clementine and said, "Watch. He's going to become just like every other man out there."

"Keith's not the only one who doesn't act that way." Clementine said. "My guardian, Lee, was never like that."

"Hmm… I really wish I could have met him." Luke said. The argument between Kenny and Mike had ceased. Luke looked over to see that Kenny and Mike were visibly calming down. Additionally, it appeared that Jane was now talking to the two men; she was probably acting as an arbitrator for the two men. "Guess it took a woman to talk some sense into them." Luke said. "Looks like Jane broke it up."

"Keep pressure on it, okay?" Bonnie told Clementine. "I'm gonna go fetch some bandages." Bonnie got up and approached Keith who had all of the medical supplies since he was the most experienced medical person in the group. Still, Bonnie was decent at fixing up wounds from her experience in Vince's group.

"Hey Bonnie…" Luke called for the woman.

Bonnie turned to Luke and asked, "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry." Luke apologized.

"For what?" Bonnie asked confused by what Luke was apologizing for. Luke didn't respond. "I'll be right back." Bonnie said and she continued to walk towards Keith.

Clementine watched on as Bonnie left. Suddenly, Luke shot up in pain and gripped his leg. His action made Clementine jump in surprise and look to Luke worriedly. "How are you feeling?" Clementine asked.

"If I'm being honest… I've been better." Luke said. Clementine placed pressure back on his wounded leg as the cold wind blew by. It was times like this that made Clementine wish that she didn't have to keep her hair short. She wanted her ears to be warm, just like the rest of her body. Her thoughts were interrupted when Luke said, "How did we get here?"

"We walked, mostly." Clementine said.

Luke chuckled and said, "Sitting in the snow… leaned up against a tree… bullet in my leg… but alive. When so many of my friends are dead… for no good reason… and I couldn't do anything to stop it. Everyone we set out with… just… gone… except for Keith and Nick."

"They didn't die in vain. They died for the baby, and he's still alive." Clementine said as she looked over to see Bonnie looking through Keith's backpack as the boy continued to entertain the infant in his arms.

"Yeah, you're right." Luke said. Clementine looked back to Luke as he continued, "But I could've done more. And that ain't up for debate. I know it in my bones… and I've gotta live with it."

"Alright, this should work." Bonnie said as she approached Luke and Clementine. "Sorry I took so long. Keith is such a hoarder when it comes to that backpack of his."

"That's fine." Luke said.

"What'd I miss?" Bonnie asked as she knelt down to look over Luke's wound and patch him up.

"Hmm? …oh uh nothing." Luke replied. "Just complaining about my leg." Luke hissed at the pain of the disinfectant being applied to his wound. After applying the disinfectant, Bonnie wrapped his leg with a gauze pad and some medical tape.

"I was just mentioning how cold it is lately." Clementine said.

"Yeah, good thing you got that cool jacket, huh?" Bonnie asked. Clementine looked down at the jacket which was providing warmth but it wasn't the only thing that kept her upper body warm. Bonnie noticed the hooded sweatshirt and asked, "Where'd you get that sweatshirt, Clem?" Bonnie asked. "I'm a little curious on where you got it from."

"Nick gave it to me." Clementine said. "He found it in the abandoned car."

"Hmm… that's cool." Bonnie said as she looked over to Nick who continued to stay on watch. "Hey Clem… could you go over and see if you can change the bandages on Keith's wound. It's been about three days since he last changed them and I'd imagine that he would appreciate a helping hand."

"Okay." Clementine said.

"That a girl." Bonnie said as she hand the disinfectant, gauze and medical tape to Clementine. Clementine accepted supplies as Bonnie explained, "That disinfectant is going to sting, but only for a second. It's going to clean his wound."

"I know what is does… it's going to suck." Clementine said remembering when Keith poured disinfectant on her dog bite wound a couple weeks prior.

"It's gotta be done." Luke said.

Clementine got up and huffed before she walked over to Keith. The boy had finished entertaining the infant and looked up to Clementine. "I was thinking about calling him AJ." Keith said.

"Huh?" Clementine asked.

"You know, the baby." Keith said. "Let's name him AJ. Rebecca never really named him, so I guess it falls onto the group to give him a name."

"Does AJ stand for anything?" Clementine asked.

"Yeah, Alvin Junior." Keith said. "What do you think?"

"I think it's a very good name. I'm sure Rebecca would approve of it." Clementine said. She looked down at the supplies in her hands and asked, "Can I change your bandages?"

Keith looked to the supplies with his only working eye and said, "I guess so… I'm just afraid that I'll scare you."

"You won't." Clementine said. "I love you, remember? You could lose both eyes and I'd still love you."

Keith smiled to the girl and started to remove the medical tape. The gauze sponge fell to the snow covered ground below and Keith slowly raised his head so that he could see Clementine with his one working eye. "So, how do I look? Am I still going to look handsome after all this?"

Clementine looked to the nonfunctioning eye with shock at first, but it was followed by her smiling. The eyelid was closed shut, and it was evident that there was no eye underneath. However, the swelling had gone down. For the most part, the wound was clean at some point but not so much anymore. "Well it looks better." Clementine said.

"I guess my modeling days aren't over yet." Keith joked.

Clementine giggled at the joke as she applied some of the disinfectant to the gauze pad and looked up to Keith. "Well, this is going to hurt a lot." Clementine said.

"You could have lied a little bit." Keith said. She slowly and carefully touched the closed eye lid with the gauze pad which made Keith shutter. "Ow!" Keith said.

"Sorry." Clementine apologized.

"No, it's fine." Keith replied. He continued to wince every now and then from the gauze making contact with his nonfunctioning eye as the conversation continued.

"I wish you wouldn't have done what you did back at Howe's." Clementine said. "You scared me when you took the radio from me and allowed yourself to get beaten."

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't let him hurt you." Keith said. "I would have never forgiven myself, if it was you and not me." Keith looked up to his fellow group members. He noticed that Bonnie gave him a quick glance. It was the same look that she gave to his father. Keith sighed and said, "My dad offered me a way out." Clementine looked to the boy with a questioning stare. "It was about two weeks before he killed my mom. He told me that if I would follow his lead that one day the community would be mine. But I refused. I couldn't… I couldn't follow what he did. He was cruel and cold, and I didn't want that. After that, he saw both my mom and me as a waste. He killed my mom, because he thought I was weak."

"It's not your fault for what happened to your mom." Clementine said.

"I am still looked at and thought of as Carver's son… the son of a tyrant." Keith looked down sadly as he continued. "It's true. The children of a parent are only recognized by their parent's deeds." Keith looked to Clementine and said, "It happens to you, too. Kenny looks to you that way."

"But Kenny didn't know my dad. He and Ed never met." Clementine said.

"It doesn't always have to be a parent." Keith said. "Was Lee and Kenny good friends?"

"Yes." Clementine replied.

"And that's why he expects so much from you." Keith said. "He doesn't look to you and think of you as Clementine Marsh. He looks at you and thinks of you as the young girl that was looked after by Lee Everett and thinks that you share all of his strengths and personality."

"So, what should I do?" Clementine asked.

"I don't know; I'm still trying to figure that out myself. Pray to the Lord to give you strength. That's what I usually do." Keith said as Clementine placed the gauze pad on Keith's wound and wrapped the medical tape back around his head. "Maybe one day, people will recognize you as Clementine Marsh and me as Keith Carver."

"I hope so." Clementine said with a smile. "Well, I'm all done."

"Thank you, Clem." Keith said as he and the girl got up. He rewarded her kind action with a kiss on her lips. It had been a very long time since they had kissed one another. The kiss was equally magical as the first time they kissed each other back at the ski lodge. Time stopped for the two children as all of their stress and worry disappeared. Additionally, both of their bodies heated up and allowed the two to feel warmth from within the cold climate. Finally, the two separated. Both breathed heavily in an attempt to catch their breath.

"I really ought to take you out on a date at some point." Keith finally managed to say.

"Perhaps we can do that when we get to Wellington." Clementine suggested.

"Hey love birds you ready to move." Bonnie asked as she approached the two.

"You, uh, saw that?" Clementine asked nervously.

"Clem, we all saw that." Bonnie said. The two children looked over to see Kenny with a glare aimed at Keith. Mike, Luke, Jane, and Nick were all staring at the two children with smirks. Both Keith and Clementine's cheeks fired up even more, but this time, it was out of embarrassment.

"You kids grow up way too fast anymore." Bonnie said. "Anyway, I think Kenny wanted to hold the baby for a bit. Won't mind if I take him."

"Yeah, I don't mind." Keith said and he handed the baby to Bonnie. Bonnie took the infant in her arms and walked over to Kenny. Luke got back up, ready to limp again through the woods with Mike supporting him. Meanwhile, the group started to congregate ready to continue down the path. "I guess we're heading out." Keith said to Clementine

"Yep." Clementine said. The two got up and headed for the group. As they headed for the group, Clementine looked to Keith with a smirk and said, "I hope you aren't going to give me a survival knife for our second date."

"I'm not sure if that was our first date." Keith said as he reminisced about the supposed first date which occurred in Matthew's shack. "Alvin kind of ruined it, remember?"

Clementine giggle and said, "Yeah, that's right." Her giggles soon subsided as she remembered all of the people that they had lost. She frowned and said, "I miss them. I wonder what would have happened if we could have spent a couple weeks with them. Just being at the cabin."

"Yeah… they were good people." Keith said as he considered his own loss of the kind and nice people in his life. William, Erin, Derrick, his little cousin, Jack, Johnny, and even his left eye were all gone because of the apocalypse.

"Hey, you two ready to go." Nick asked the two children. They both took a moment to address him with a nod, before returning to their thoughts. From there, the group pressed on and continued for a few more hours.

* * *

Hours of walking through the cold, snow filled forests had led the group to what appeared to be a fenced-in power station. "Is that it?" Kenny asked Arvo. "Hey, I'm talking to you."

"W-What?" Arvo asked. "It? It what?"

"Is that it? Is that the f******* place you're taking us?" Kenny asked Arvo.

"I don't know if you know this, but he doesn't speak much English." Jane said.

"Yeah, no shit." Kenny spat.

"Arvo, we're not trying to be mean." Clementine said to the teenager. "We just want to know if this is where the food and supplies are."

"No, it is at the house." Arvo replied. "It's still more walk. Several more hours."

The scowl that had formed in Kenny's features had grown and he spat out, "Dammit! I knew this was going to happen. This guy f****** us." Kenny said pointing his handgun at Arvo in a casual manner like it was just a finger. Arvo instinctively flinched to avoid being in the direct path of the gun.

Meanwhile, Mike helped Luke to a log which the wounded man replied, "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Mike said.

"It's gettin dark." Bonnie said as she approached Kenny. "Maybe we should stop for the night." Bonnie was right. The afternoon sun was disappearing over the horizon and stopping for the night would be the smartest course of action.

"This is bullshit!" Kenny snapped as he kept his handgun aimed at Arvo.

"Relax." Jane said.

Don't tell me to relax!" Kenny snapped. "He's lying." Kenny said gesturing to Arvo. "He's been lying this whole time."

"You don't f****** know that." Mike said.

"I know that we've been walking all day and we're still f****** nowhere." Kenny spat.

"Stop fighting!" Clementine exclaimed which made all of the adults stop arguing and looked to her. She looked to each person as she continued, "Can we just have a nice quiet evening to relax, please?"

"I'm all for that." Nick said.

"Yeah me too." Keith said.

"We're all stressed." Bonnie said. "Let's just get a night's rest."

"Yeah, I'm gonna sleep real f****** easy tonight knowin this asshole is playin us." Kenny spat. "F***!" Suddenly, AJ started to whimper which forced Kenny to focus on the baby in his arms. "Oh shit, sorry about that… it's alright little buddy." Kenny holstered his handgun and started to rock the baby. "It's alright." Kenny said to soothe the baby.

"If we're staying, we should scout this place out." Jane said.

"Alright, y'all wait here." Kenny said to the group as AJ continued to whimper. "I'll go make sure this ain't some walker's nest we're lockin ourselves into."

"I'll go with you." Jane said. Kenny was surprised that the loner would volunteer to help him scope out the place, but he accepted the help anyway in the form of his silence.

"See if… see if you can calm him down a bit." Kenny said as he handed AJ to Clementine. He and Jane then walked off to investigate the fenced-in power station.

Clementine looked to the group, to which Mike shook his head and said, "No. That's all you."

Clementine looked to the baby and recalled that he liked seeing Keith make silly faces earlier today. She smirked before sticking her tongue and making her own silly face. AJ's whimpers soon subsided, and he looked to Clementine with an intrigued look. Keith chuckled at the scene. It was adorable to him to see his girlfriend entertain little AJ.

"I wouldn't have guessed that would work." Mike said.

"I had a little inspiration." Clementine said as she looked to Keith with a smile.

Bonnie approached Clementine and AJ and said, "I think he likes you." She looked down to the baby in Clementine's arms and continued, "Calmed right down for you."

"He's cute." Clementine said as she looked to the baby boy's eyes.

"Yeah, he is, isn't he?" Bonnie said. "Most babies are pretty ugly this soon after being born."

"That's true. They usually look like weird little aliens." Mike said. Luke shook his head at Mike's nonsense.

"I wouldn't know." Nick said. "I'm not a baby person."

Bonnie rolled her eyes at Nick's comment before addressing Clementine. "Here… I got him." Bonnie said as she took the baby from Clementine.

The group could hear a pair of footsteps approaching them from down below. They looked over to see Kenny and Jane returning. "Come on over, it's safe." Kenny said.

Luke grunted as Mike helped him to stand. The two headed for the safety of the abandoned electric station with Bonnie and Nick close behind. Arvo followed the two adults, but not before give Keith a glare. Keith was surprised by the glare, but before he could question the Russian teenager, Arvo walked away with the group. Keith looked to Clementine who merely shrugged. It wasn't like the Russian teenager could hurt either of them. Keith decided to ignore the action, and he and his girlfriend went to join the others.

**Night Time**

The cold chilled air of the night was eerily quiet as the survivors surrounded the campfire. It wasn't easy for them to find dry wood, but they managed. It helped that power station floor was a dirt ground with a thin layer of frost on it. One of the survivors, Jane, isolated herself from the fire as another survivor, Arvo, was tied up and kept away from the group. The full moon allowed for a very visible night which was accompanied by the stars. The silence among the survivors around the campfire was, for once, warm and inviting.

"Today's my birthday." Luke said.

"Son of a bitch, it is." Nick said with a grin. "F***, happy birthday, brother."

"Happy birthday, Luke." Clementine said.

"Yeah man, happy birthday." Mike added.

"Thanks." Luke said as he looked to his group members with a thankful stare.

"So you're twenty-seven today, right?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, sure as hell feel a lot older." Luke said.

"Don't even start with that shit." Kenny chuckled.

"Got outta college five years ago… feels like a million years." Luke said sadly as he recalled the wonderful college experiences that he went through and that he would never be able to go back to it.

"Hey brother, look at the bright side, at least you don't have to pay off all those student loans." Nick said.

"Yeah, you're right about that." Luke chuckled.

"I hear that." Mike said. "I'm sure there's some asshole sittin on that paperwork… waitin to collect."

"What did you study?" Clementine asked.

"Majored in art history." Luke said with a faked prideful face. He then shook his head with a chuckle. He was ashamed of his degree, especially when job hunting proved unsuccessful for two years.

"That's cool." Clementine said.

"Sounds like you majored in workin in a coffee shop." Kenny chuckled.

"Pretty much." Luke said.

"Oh, stop it." Bonnie said.

"Did get a minor in agriculture." Luke said. "Keep the old man happy."

"That's an interesting combo." Keith said. "You majored in art history and minored in agriculture. You usually would want your major and minor to be in the same field of study."

"Yeah, I tried to get him to major in business, but he wasn't buyin it." Nick said.

"Nick, you know I suck at numbers. It was just not going to happen." Luke chuckled.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Bonnie exclaimed. She reached inside her backpack in search of something. "Was saving it for a special occasion and… well it being your birthday and all… figure…" Bonnie pulled out a glass bottle which was filled with rum. "…This's as good a time as any."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Clementine asked.

"Clementine, after the day we've had… I think it's the best idea I got." Bonnie said as she handed the bottle of rum to Luke.

"I think what she's saying is take it easy." Kenny said.

"I feel kinda guilty taking the first sip." Luke remarked as he stared at the rum.

"Whoa, wait!" Bonnie exclaimed. "You gotta make a toast."

"I-I'm not really the, uh…" Luke said.

"Oh come on, birthday boy. It don't have to be fancy." Bonnie said.

"A toast means that we all get something to drink." Mike said.

"We can just pass the bottle around afterwards." Bonnie said. Bonnie turned back to Luke and said, "Go on."

Luke thought for a second until he cleared his throat. He raised the bottle of rum in his hands and said, "To the loved ones that we've lost along the way… and to the hope of seeing them again… some day." Nick and Kenny looked down sadly as they both recalled the loss of their families to the walkers.

"Here, here." Mike said.

"That was real nice." Bonnie said to Luke.

"Yeah? I didn't mean for it to rhyme, that was…" Luke said.

"Well, I got first watch." Kenny said as he grunted to get off the ground. AJ was asleep in his arms; no doubt, the quiet atmosphere allowed the baby to finally drift off to sleep.

"I think the fences are secure." Mike said.

"Can't be too careful." Kenny replied.

"The baby might get cold." Bonnie said.

"Nah, I'll keep him warm. He's a tough little guy." Kenny said.

"Kenny, please stay." Clementine said.

"Nah darlin, you stay here and get warm." Kenny said as he looked to the eleven year old. Despite everything that he has done, Clementine still cared about him. It was for that reason that Kenny had to space himself from everyone else. He needed to figure out where he was with everyone in the group, and he couldn't figure that out if he was around everyone.

The girl remained persistent by keeping her large amber orbs aimed at the older man's weathered and worn out brown eyes. "Clem, let him go." Nick whispered.

Kenny looked to the group and said, "I'm gonna post up near the hole in the fence. Holler if ya need anything."

"Thanks Kenny." Luke said. Kenny nodded and walked over to guard the fence.

Clementine looked down back at the campfire. She was conflicted on where she and Kenny were at when it came to their friendship. She felt comfort when Keith placed his arm around her shoulders.

Meanwhile, Luke took a sip of the rum. Its tart and sweet flavor clashed with bitter alcoholic taste.

"Fire's real nice." Bonnie called to the loner, Jane. "Plenty of room if you wanna get warm."

"Maybe in a bit." Jane replied.

Bonnie shook her head in disbelief as she recalled the events earlier that day. "I didn't expect her to come back." Bonnie said. "Just when I thought I got her figured out, she up and surprises."

"It's a good thing." Nick said. "She saved our asses."

"I know, I know, I just… don't know what she's getting out of all this." Bonnie said.

"I'm kind of glad that she did come back. She saved our lives." Clementine said.

"I don't know what to think of her." Keith said. "I forgive her for wanting me dead, but I can't just trust her, can I?"

"Well, she helped us back there, so that puts her okay in my books." Luke said.

Nick laughed and said, "Brother, it is no secret how you feel about her." Luke looked down sadly. He was ashamed of his actions the day that AJ was born as Nick continued to laugh. "Ah, come on, brother, you know I'm just giving you a hard time."

"It was stupid." Luke admitted.

"We understand, Luke." Bonnie said. "She's a pretty girl… once you get past the dirt and guts."

"I don't know…" Luke said with a smirk. "I guess I just… wanted to forget about this shit for like, ten minutes."

"Ten minutes?" Mike asked. "Man that's more than I could last at this point."

"Hey." Bonnie warned the two men. They obviously had forgotten that Keith and Clementine were sitting across the campfire from them.

"Okay, maybe it wasn't for ten minutes." Luke replied.

"Come on. We got a couple of little ones around." Bonnie said as she gestured to Clementine and Keith.

Clementine looked to the adults with a questioning stare. She didn't know why Bonnie was trying to end the current conversation. "I know what you guys are talking about." Clementine said with a smile.

"I certainly hope not." Bonnie said.

"You're talking about kissing stuff, like what Keith and I do." Clementine replied.

"Uh yeah…"Luke said hoping to cover his tracks. "Yes… that's exactly what we are talking about." However he, Bonnie, Nick, and Mike were surprised to hear laughter from Keith.

"What's so funny?" Clementine asked her boyfriend innocently.

"You're close, Clem." Keith said. "They're talking about sexual intercourse."

"The f***?" Nick exclaimed in horror. Both Luke and Mike looked to Keith with their mouths wide open. Both were speechless. They never expected the twelve year old to know what they were talking about.

"Keith, my gosh!" Bonnie exclaimed. "How did you-? Where did you-?"

"Carlos taught me anatomy, remember?" Keith said as he tried to stifle his chuckles. "In order to learn anatomy, you kind have to know the difference between a boy and a girl, and from there, I just connected the dots. Besides, it's all you adults ever talk about." All four adults' cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, indicating that the boy was right.

"So, what is sexual intercourse?" Clementine asked Keith.

"Keith, no. Don't tell her." Bonnie warned.

"It's something you do when you're all grown up." Keith said.

"Oh, okay." Clementine said. She decided to allow the conversation to end since the four adults were still stunned. She still didn't know what sexual intercourse was, but as Keith said, she'll find out when she's an adult.

A moment of silence passed among the survivors. The adults had calmed down from the previous conversation and weren't flushed red with embarrassment anymore. Luke and Nick had their share of the rum. After Nick had his share, he passed it to Luke, and Luke passed the rum over to Bonnie. Clementine now had her head resting on Keith's shoulder, but she perked up when Bonnie spoke. "Maybe she came back for you…" Bonnie said as she looked to Luke.

"Could be." Mike said.

"I… don't know what to say to that." Luke said.

"I'd come back for you." Clementine said. In response to her statement, all five group members looked to her with a smirk.

"I thought you were my girlfriend." Keith chuckled. "Am I already that boring to you?"

Clementine realized the error in her sentence and said, "You know what I mean." It was her turn to have her cheeks flush in embarrassment. Keith chuckled and rubbed her right arm in a soothing manner.

"Luke's a regular Cassanova…" Mike said.

"Hey, shut up." Luke said.

"Don't be modest." Mike chuckled. "Your moves are workin on all of the ladies."

"…Worked on me." Bonnie said as she chugged a bit of the rum. Mike and Nick looked to Bonnie with a set of smirks as the woman finished her chug of the rum. "Shit." Bonnie said and she placed her head on her hand. "I just did it too, didn't I?" She looked to see even Luke smirking at her. "Sorry, it's the drink talking." Bonnie explained.

"They say a drunk man's talk is a sober man's thoughts." Mike said.

"Well, I ain't a man, so 'they' can take that shit somewhere else." Bonnie said. Bonnie shook her head at Mike's nonsense before she looked to Clementine and said, "Clem go and see if you can get Jane and Kenny over by the fire. I think you're the only one who can get them both over here." Bonnie approached the girl with the rum as Clementine got up from her comfortable position of sitting next to Keith. "It's too cold for them to be out there. And here, a swig of rum might change their minds." Bonnie said as she handed the alcoholic beverage to the eleven year old.

Clementine nodded and looked out to the fenced-in power station, deciding who she should talk to first.

…**To be continued.**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: This is awesome. I have reached 10,000 views for this story. You guys are awesome for reading up to this point.**

**I should also thank the people who have reviewed for this story. Just for future reference, I'm not going to do this every time. I'll only do this when I've reached a milestone. I have to give credit to Bubbles2k100 for this idea since she did the same thing at the beginning of every chapter of Baby Clementine. And if you haven't read that Fic, do so! It is an amazing read. Anyway onto the thank you's:**

**ZeroBullet0: Thanks for all the support. It's nice to have a fellow Christian and Walking Dead fan on this site. You have been absolutely amazing in your support throughout this FanFic. I'm glad that you like the relationship between Keith and Clementine. From the beginning, I tried my very best to make their relationship nice and steady, and then keep it strong in the later chapters. Anyway, you are just awesome for reviewing almost every single chapter.**

**I'm Omid: Love the username. I wish they kept that character alive. Damn you Telltale! Anyway, thank you for your support at the beginning. I have no doubt that you are still reading this FanFic. Thanks for the beginning support, bud.**

**Watchman1985: Thanks for reading my stories. As you know, I'm a bit of rookie, but I will get better. I hope you still enjoy this FanFic.**

**Darth Siren: Thanks for your support. I hope you still like this FanFic.**

**Sourmoebot: Thanks for the support. I wasn't very sure at first if I wanted Clementine's love interest to be the son of Carver, but then, I figured it might be good to add a bit of drama to the whole mix.**

**Magixben1124: Funny how we support each other. Reading each other's stories and reviewing. I guess I'm part of a FanFic gang now. Haha, just kidding. Anyway thanks for the support. I'm glad that you like the relationship between Keith and Clementine. And it's insane how you and I are on the same page on a lot of things. We both hate Troy, Carlos, and Arvo. And we could care less about Kenny and Jane. That's just crazy, man. However, I'm excited to go back to working on What's Left of Us, which is something I'm going to be working on after this story… hopefully. **

**Ananomous: You'll find out Kenny's and Keith's fate later on. Probably in Chapter 23 or Chapter 24. Anyway, thanks for the support.**

**Kell: Thanks for the support in the beginning. I would say it has been a pretty awesome journey through Season 2, but I'm glad it's coming to an end. I want to work on some other projects.**

**SonicMario33: Thanks for the support; however, I would say that you don't want to add to many exclamation marks throughout the story. Using exclamation marks should be used moderately. And I know I don't need to censor the f-bomb, but… it's still one of the worst words you can use in society. Sorry if that annoys you, but that's just how I do things.**

**Guest (Chapter 6): I can only go so fast bud. Haha, but I'm glad you like the story. Thanks for the support.**

**InfectedElite: Thanks for the support, and I already explained that Keith and Clementine were getting pretty close in a PM I sent you. Plus, there are some hints in Chapter 6.**

**Pyrojack25: Thanks for all of the support. I hope you are still enjoying this FanFic with all of the craziness that has been happening in it. Plus, cool name.**

**NN010: Sucks about the account issues. I hope you're doing alright now. Thanks for the support, and I would have to agree with you. Screw Carver!**

**IHazUsername: Thanks for the support. I'm kind of surprised that you think this is one of the best FanFics to read. Of course, I wrote this FanFic because I felt that Clementine needed a love interest in Season 2. Anyway, it means a lot.**

**CCAC18JUDGEUUSeC496: Dammit! Why did you have to get a long, complicated username for? Haha. That's hard to remember. Anyway, thanks for all of the support. Too bad I haven't done too many cliffhangers in this FanFic. Don't worry though, I'll squeeze one last cliffhanger before the end of this FanFic just for you. Haha. It may be this chapter.**

**Midnightviolet0: Thanks for your support. I hope you still like this FanFic, especially with all of the craziness that is happening now.**

**Santiago poncini20: Sorry that I couldn't save Sarah. I just didn't have plans for her in this Fic, which is odd because I have plans for her in almost every other FanFic. And yes, the group is together for now… but for how long. Muhahahaha. Sorry couldn't resist.**

**Lucyheartfillia123: Thanks for your support. I'm glad that you're enjoying this FanFic.**

**Xboxgamr42: I can see where you are coming from. Sarah was a little awkward at times. It would have made more sense to make Sarah younger than Clementine. I know Clementine's the main character, but it still bugged me that the Cabin Survivors would expect so much out of an eleven year old, while the fifteen year old did absolutely nothing. That doesn't make a lick of sense!**

**Jericho: Sorry, bud. Couldn't save her. I had no plans for her in this FanFic. But thanks for the support.**

**Solarsearcher: Yeah, I fixed it. You don't see Vitali or Buricko anywhere in Chapter 19. At least, I hope you don't. I have a bad history of leaving words out or forgetting to delete words. Anyway, one thing I didn't realize until you reviewed was that this story IS in Clementine's and Keith's perspective. I thought I was writing it in a writer's perspective. Good thing I wasn't though, that would have sucked.**

**AquaDestinysEmbrace: It sucks that I couldn't save Sarah, but I couldn't think of a way to add her in. But thanks for the support. Sarah's fate will change in Code Walker, Dead Man Walking, and What's Left of Us.**

**Guest (Chapter 19): Your wish has been granted within Chapter 20. Haha, thanks for your support.**

**Guest (Chapter 20): Whew, that's a tall order. I might make a one-shot out of that since Bonnie didn't want Keith to tell Clementine anything about sexual intercourse.**

**Secretist: Haha, heck man, I'm doing the best I can. I've been busy with college, work, and other FanFiction assignment. Thanks for the support. I'm glad that you like this story so far, and I do have plans for this FanFic to go into Season 3 territory.**

**Haha, anyway, you've all been very awesome. Now, on with the new chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Clementine made her decision on who she should convince first to come and sit by the fire by approaching Jane. The loner stared blankly into the dark forest wrapped up in thought until she noticed Clementine out of the corner of her eye. Jane looked to the eleven year old as Clementine offered the bottle of rum to Jane. Jane looked to Clementine questionably and asked, "Do they expect you to lure me over there with alcohol? I wouldn't have expected a bottle could have lasted this long."

"Will it work?" Clementine asked.

"That depends. What is it?" Jane asked.

Clementine looked to the bottle to read the name of the alcoholic beverage, but the label was so torn up that it was illegible. "It's rum…" Clementine said.

Jane smirked and replied, "Probably." She extended her hand out to accept the rum to which Clementine obliged and gave the alcoholic beverage to the loner.

Jane looked to the bottle of rum with a look of remorse before she looked over to Keith, Nick, Luke, Bonnie, and Mike. It appeared that Luke was in the middle of telling a story to his fellow survivors. Jane looked back to Clementine with hesitation and reluctance traced in her features. "I don't know… it might be awkward." Jane said. "I wasn't expecting to… you know… come back."

"It'll only be weird if you make it weird. Just be cool. Hang out." Clementine said. "Keith and I got embarrassed earlier today, and you don't see us spacing ourselves from everyone else."

"It's not quite the same, Clem." Jane said. "It's never that easy."

"It is. People just love making it harder than it has to be." Clementine explained.

Jane looked down to the rum; she had no response to Clementine's statement. Her words rang true as the loner looked at the bottle of rum. "Why does this feel like I'm signing a contract or something?" Jane remarked as the cold air blew by making both the loner and the eleven year old shiver. The loner finally sighed and drank some of the rum. She finished her chug with a tangy bitter taste in her mouth which was reflected by her facial expressions. "That's good stuff. Have you had any? Want a sip?" Jane asked as she offered the rum to the eleven year old.

"Uh, I'm a kid." Clementine said.

"Uh, okay then. Suit yourself." Jane said as she lowered the hand that was offering the rum to Clementine. "I wasn't too much older than you when I had my first drink… I was so stupid back then." Jane said as Clementine looked to the loner attentively. With little entertainment in the current days, telling stories was the most interesting activity to participate in. "There was this time where I broke into my parents' liquor cabinet and drank a whole bottle of this really spicy, sweet liquor… what was its name… something stupid… Earthquake or something."

"Sounds like you were a bad kid." Clementine said with a smirk.

Jane thought of Clementine's statement and said, "Yeah, I guess I was. At the bottom of the bottle were these sugar crystals, and I got it into my head that I really wanted to eat a couple. So I got the bright idea to smash it on my parents' dining room floor to get 'em. And it shattered into a thousand pieces."

"That sounds pretty dumb." Clementine said.

Jane scoffed and said, "Yeah… I was pretty drunk at the time. The problem with glass is that it looks a lot like sugar crystals."

"That's never really been a problem for me." Clementine said.

"Keep it that way." Jane said with a serious stare aimed at the eleven year old. "My sister found me… drunk… blood pouring out of my mouth." The loner looked down obviously ashamed by the events that occurred several years ago. "Jaime thought I was dying, so she called 9-1-1. They pumped my stomach. And got grounded for six months."

"Maybe you shouldn't be drinking." Clementine said as she tried to reach for the rum.

"You're not the first one to tell me that." Jane said as she kept the bottle away from the eleven year old. "Trust me, I'm not as reckless now as I was back then."

A moment of silence passed by the two. "I haven't thought about that in a long time." Jane remarked. Jane looked over to the group at the campfire before having another drink of the rum. She finished her drink and looked to Clementine. "I guess a deal's a deal." Jane said. She handed the rum back to Clementine and continued, "Here. That guy needs a drink more than anyone." Jane looked over to Kenny with a somewhat sympathized look before looking back to the group at the campfire. "Time to not make it weird." Jane remarked, and she started to make her way over to the campfire.

Clementine watched the loner proceed closer to the group. Jane hesitated when she finally reached the group. From what Clementine could see, Bonnie tried to calm the loner's nerves by offering her seat, but apparently, Jane refused and took a seat next to Mike. She sent a thankful glance towards Clementine before looking back to the group as another conversation was about to start.

Clementine smiled to see that the loner was comfortable around the group, but she realized that Jane was right. Kenny needed a drink or at least someone to talk to. The eleven year old approached the older man who watched over Alvin Junior. Kenny analyzed everything about the baby; the infant must have spurred many memories of Duck when he was a baby. Suddenly, AJ started to cry as a cold wind blew by. "Sh… there, there, little guy. I got you." Kenny said to soothe the infant as Clementine approached the man and the baby.

"Hey." Clementine said to get Kenny's attention.

"Oh hey, Clem." Kenny said as he turned to look at the eleven year old.

"Do you want some… rum?" Clementine asked as she extended the hand with the alcoholic beverage.

"Nah, that's the last thing I probably need now." Kenny said as he looked out to the dark forest. Clementine lowered the arm that held the alcoholic beverage as Kenny continued, "Just, uh… needed some air."

"Kenny, there's air everywhere." Clementine said as she sat down next to the older man. She looked out to the cold, dark forest as well, allowing the two to bond quietly.

Finally, Kenny said, "I'm sorry for… for how I acted back there… after Sarita was…" Kenny said sympathetically. Clementine looked to him with her eyes widened in surprise. She wasn't expecting him to apologize; she had always thought that he was too stubborn. "I just… I couldn't handle it… I'm sorry. I mean you did what you could. You tried to help; you tried to save her. And I blamed you for it. I'm so, so sorry."

"We both said things that we regretted that day." Clementine said. "But Kenny, I do sometimes feel like you hate me. When I first saw you back at the ski lodge, I thought things were going to get better. I thought that it would have been just like at the motor inn with you looking after me instead of Lee, but that never happened."

"Darlin, I'm so sorry if I ever made you feel like I hated you. You have to understand that I didn't mean that. Things have been rough… And I don't know how to handle it. And I sometimes take that out on you." Kenny said. The older man looked to the fence and contemplated. Everything was going too fast for him. He wanted to return to the earlier days of the apocalypse. "I miss my boy. I miss him so much. I didn't raise him like I should have… I made mistakes… wasn't there a whole lot for a couple of years. Off on a boat somewhere or other." His voice was laced with remorse and regret as he continued, "I thought that I enjoyed that time away from them… from my family… But I'd give anything for just one more second with them…"

"I miss them too, Kenny. Duck was a true friend and I haven't had many of those recently. And Katjaa… she was one of the nicest people I have ever met. Above everything though… I miss my family." Clementine said. Kenny looked to the eleven year old as she reminisced on her old experiences. "…I wish I could see my mom one last time to tell her that I loved her. I want to see my dad one last time so he could tell me of his pranks when he was my age."

"I bet you miss them... Katjaa and Duck… they were my everything… and I took them for granted." Kenny looked down to the infant in his arms as AJ started to fall asleep. "It's going to be different with him. He's gonna get raised right. I won't make the same mistakes again. That's a promise." Just then, a cold, chilled air blew through which made Clementine shiver and hug her body for warmth. Kenny noticed this and said, "You should go back over to the fire. Ain't no sense in both of us being over here. I can handle watch on my own."

"You should come too." Clementine said as she got back up.

"I don't know…" Kenny said unconvinced that he should go and join the campfire given what happened earlier with Arvo and the group.

"Come on… it'll be good for everyone." Clementine said.

Kenny looked back out into the dark and cold woods. He released a sigh and said, "Yeah okay." The aged man got up and walked over to the campfire. Keith looked over to Clementine and gestured her to join him. Clementine smiled back and walked over to sit next to the one-eyed boy.

Some members of the group chuckled as Clementine rejoined them. She easily found a comfortable spot by sitting next to Keith and laying her head on his shoulder. The fire's warmth revitalized her body which had started to become slightly cold because of the environment. The girl soon found out why some of the group was laughing from earlier when Bonnie said, "Jane, you don't have to justify that with a response."

"Hey, I find that we just get this stuff out in the open. Less drama." Mike said.

"Yeah, don't be afraid to elaborate too." Nick chuckled as Luke's face was getting redder by the minute.

"There's a time and place for everything." Keith said as he gestured to the girl that was resting on his shoulder.

"Okay look, I'll just say this much." Jane said. "I can confirm there was no time for kissing." Luke scratched the back of his head nervously in response, while Mike and Nick started to chuckle.

"Then what did you do?" Clementine asked as she perked up from Keith's shoulder. Everyone grew silent as they stared at the girl. It's like as if she cursed someone out.

"Clem, you'll find out when you're older. Now that's enough on that subject." Bonnie said.

Clementine shrugged. She didn't understand why everyone was so silent around her when it came to what happened between Luke and Jane. She smiled and said, "It's nice to hear people laughing."

"Yeah, it is…" Kenny said sadly.

"You just spend so much time tryin to stay alive that… you don't get a chance to enjoy livin." Luke said sadly.

"Yeah… we need to make more time for that." Bonnie said.

"Alcohol helps." Luke said.

"For those of us who don't want to stay sober." Keith satirized.

"It's not too late to join us, Keith." Bonnie said. She turned to the eleven year old next to Keith and asked, "You still got that bottle of rum, right Clem?"

"Yup." Clementine said as she held up the bottle.

"Hah, no thanks." Keith said. "I don't want to wake up with an intense headache." The adults got their share of a chuckle from the boy's statement before it fell silent again.

The group then heard light sobbing that was a few feet from them which belonged to the Russian teenager, Arvo. Mike looked over to the boy with a saddened look and said, "Let me get that bottle." Mike got up and walked over to Clementine. She got up from her comfortable spot to hand the bottle to Mike as the man continued, "We got someone else that might need some help." Mike accepted the rum as Arvo's light sobbing continued.

"Sounds like a waste of good rum." Kenny said coldly as he looked up from the infant in his arms to Mike. In response, Mike looked to Kenny with a glare.

"I second that." Nick said coldly.

"Guys, he lost his sister today…" Bonnie said.

"And whose fault is that?" Kenny spat.

"That just makes it even harder to deal with… trust me." Jane said.

"It's alright to show him sympathy, but it's a mistake to trust him." Keith said as he got up. "He's human, and he made a mistake, just like we all make mistakes. But… we should not trust him."

"He needs it just as much as anyone else." Clementine said.

"I said my piece." Kenny spat as he went back to staring at the resting infant in his arms with a caring look.

Nick mumbled from where he sat and spat, "I don't trust that asshole. He almost got us killed today."

"Nick, that was hours ago. You got to let it go, brother." Luke said. "Aren't you the least bit sorry for what happened to him?"

"Hell no!" Nick exclaimed. "He tried to rob us, and if that didn't work, he would have tried to kill us! The way I see it, this is poetic justice at its finest!"

"Damn straight." Kenny agreed.

"That is not right!" Mike snapped. "How can you even say that? You know what? F*** you, both of you." Mike angrily left the group and headed over to the Russian teenager.

"Guys, I don't think that boy's a bad person. I just think good people do bad things sometimes." Bonnie said to the group as a whole; however, the message was intended for Kenny and Nick primarily. "And they do it a lot more nowadays with the world bein what it is. So… I think it's best to just…" Bonnie trailed off upon hearing a loud outcry that came from the area where Arvo was tied up.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Arvo shouted as everyone looked over to see what would have made the boy snap. Unlike everyone else, Kenny stood upright to get a better look at the situation. Clementine and Keith remained standing and looked over to see Mike trying to calm the Russian teenager.

"Sorry, okay? My fault. I shouldn't have…" Mike started to say to calm Arvo, but the teenager lashed out again.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Arvo shouted again. It was evident that pain and sadness were laced in his voice.

Kenny started to walk in the direction of where Arvo and Mike were with a scowl on his face but stopped when Clementine looked to him. She shook her head in a gesture for him to not go over to ridicule the teenager any more than he had done today. Kenny obeyed the girl's gesture and watched the interaction between Mike and Arvo.

Arvo lost his scowl as he started to mourn his sister in his native language. "It's okay… it's okay… she's in a better place." Mike said as he crouched down in front of the teenager. Arvo continued to mourn for his loss as Mike continued to calm the teenager. "It's okay… it's okay." Mike said to comfort Arvo.

"Maybe it's best if we all get some sleep." Bonnie said. "Who knows how long a walk we got tomorrow." The situation with Mike and Arvo seemed to have settled which gave Clementine and Keith the opportunity to sit down once again.

"Yeah… that's a good idea." Jane said.

"I'll take first watch." Kenny said, and he walked away from the fire. Kenny stopped upon hearing Bonnie.

"Thank you, Kenny, really." Bonnie said.

"I… don't mention it." Kenny said.

Bonnie watched Kenny walk away and sighed. She didn't want the friendly atmosphere from earlier to end, but that event had ran its course. Bonnie looked to Clementine and said, "Thanks for getting him to come over Clem. It was nice… while it lasted."

Clementine looked down sadly until she felt a comforting and supportive hand on her shoulder which came from her boyfriend. The rest of the night died down after that leaving the rest of the group to stare at the flames of the fire until they went to sleep.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon as the group continued to walk. Snow crunched under everyone's feet as they continued to follow Arvo.

Arvo led the way again with Kenny keeping an angry scowl directed at the boy. Clementine and Keith were behind Kenny. Clementine smiled at her one-eyed boyfriend as he smiled back. Despite the cold atmosphere within the group, she and Keith managed to remain happy in each other's presence. The cold atmosphere in the group was worse today thanks to the cold and gloomy weather. The sun had yet to show from behind the gray, dense clouds.

From behind Clementine and Keith was Mike holding AJ. "You sure you're good?" Mike asked Luke who decided to limp on his own today instead of accepting Nick's help from earlier.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm good. If I start to crap out, I'll let you know." Luke said.

"There is a thing called, 'overdoing it,' Luke." Nick said.

Luke chuckled in response and joked, "Never heard of it. Did you just make it up?" Nick chuckled at his friend's stubbornness and the group continued.

Mike even chuckled at the two, but he quickly became serious and said, "But seriously, Luke tell us when it gets to be too much for you. It's no trouble."

"How much further?" Kenny spat at the Russian teenager.

"Close, very close." Arvo said.

"You've been saying that every time I ask." Kenny spat.

The two passed by a pair of large rocks as Arvo said, "Please, come." Suddenly, Clementine and Keith could hear the infamous growl of a walker, which was followed by the source of the growl standing upright immediately and head for Kenny. Clementine gasped upon seeing the creature.

Kenny was too busy scolding Arvo to notice the approaching walker. "I'm really startin to think that you're full of shit."

"Behind you!" Clementine and Keith called out to Kenny.

Kenny turned around and exclaimed, "What the f***?" He was able to bring his arms up in time to keep the walker from biting down on him, but it didn't stop the walker from getting on top of him.

"Kenny!" Bonnie exclaimed.

He struggled with the walker as Clementine got closer to get a better shot with her handgun. She aimed the handgun and shot the walker in the skull. "Holy shit." Kenny muttered as he pushed the walker off of him. In the background, AJ was crying due to being frightened by the loud noise of the gun. Mike rocked the infant to calm him down as the group walked up to see if the older man was unharmed.

"That was close. Good shot, Clem." Keith said. Clementine smiled back in response to her boyfriend's compliment.

"F***** came out of nowhere!" Kenny exclaimed.

"That was real loud. Hopefully, there aren't many more of 'em." Bonnie said.

"Yeah, well, let's move." Jane said as she walked past the group. She was very nervous that the gunshot would attract unwanted attention in the form of more walkers. "We don't want to be around to find out."

"It is very close. Come." Arvo said as he turned to the group. He turned back to the path and led the group further to the forest's edge. The group followed the Russian teenager as he led them out of the forest to the shore of a lake. "There." Arvo said as he gestured to a house that must have been under construction before the outbreak.

"That piece of shit? It's half built." Kenny spat.

Keith and Clementine looked to the house with a questionable look. "Who knows? Maybe there's one completely built room in that house." Keith said optimistically.

"I f****** doubt it." Kenny spat at the boy.

"We're here for the supplies." Jane said to the older man and one-eyed boy. "Not the house."

"It's warm. Fireplace. Very warm." Arvo explained.

Clementine was less worried about the condition of the house and more worried about the medium that the group would have to use to get to it. "Is there another way to get there? Do we have to cross the lake?"

"We should've stuck to the treeline." Jane said.

"There's no other choice. We have to find another way across." Keith concluded. "Getting to the house through the frozen lake is too dangerous."

"The fastest way between two… things is a straight line." Kenny said to Keith. "We are not going to waste time in finding a different route."

"It's not wasting time. I just want to find a safer way across that lake." Keith said.

"It's not far, just be on the lookout." Bonnie said to encourage the group to pass over the frozen lake. The group approached the frozen lake to examine it more closely; they also looked for an alternate route, just as Keith had suggested earlier, but there was nothing within the area that they could use.

Keith sighed and said, "I don't see any other way across."

Arvo began to speak in his native language which made Kenny grumble. "Say it in American, asshole." Kenny said.

"It's okay. Walk. Ice." Arvo said to encourage the group to pass the frozen lake by walking across it.

Kenny didn't understand the meaning behind Arvo's broken English and spat, "No shit ice. That's the problem."

"He's saying it's fine." Bonnie said.

"I don't know. I don't like this guys." Nick said.

"I go first. I can be front." Arvo said.

"If we can go slowly and not clump together, maybe we can get across safely." Clementine suggested.

"She's right." Bonnie said agreeing to the young girl's logic.

"We definitely need to spread out." Jane said. "The less weight, the better."

Kenny acknowledged his group's input with a grunt and turned to Arvo. "Let the Ruskie go first… since he's so confident."

"It's okay." Arvo replied. The Russian teenager led the way to the frozen lake with the group close behind. Kenny and Jane followed the Russian teenager without too much hesitation, but Keith stopped right in his tracks. This was one thing that he didn't want to do.

"I don't like this. Talk about putting your life on the line and for what? Random supplies that we can find elsewhere?" Keith said. Panic laced his voice. He didn't like the course of action that group was taking now.

Clementine noticed her boyfriend's panic and said, "It's going to be alright. God's watching over us. He won't let anything bad happen to us."

"I hear you but…" Keith said as he looked down at the ice. The boy sighed and asked in a sarcastic tone, "Is it too late to become the tyrannical leader of a survivor community that was found in an abandoned hardware?"

"Yup." Clementine said with a smirk on her face.

"Ugh… I was afraid so." Keith said as he started to walk across the ice. Slowly, the rest of the group followed suit. Each member of the group looked down at their feet every few seconds as they crossed the frozen lake. None of them wanted to fall through the ice and into the cold water underneath. Despite his reluctance, Keith looked back to his girlfriend several times. He was more concerned on her safety than his. Nick was the closest person to Keith being a few feet from the one-eyed boy.

Clementine stopped upon hearing a crack under her feet. She looked down worriedly until she heard Luke. "We're okay. Don't worry." Luke said.

The group continued to cross the frozen lake. Each person was spaced out quite a bit from one another. It seemed as if everything was going to go smoothly until the distinct sound of the inhuman, gurgled growls of several walkers could be heard from behind.

"We got some walkers behind us." Jane announced as she looked back to the approaching undead.

"F***." Nick spat. "Can't anything ever go right?"

"Relax. It's only a few of 'em. We should be alright." Mike said.

"Let's just get to the house." Bonnie said.

As the walkers got closer, Arvo started to limp faster. "Hey stay with us!" Kenny exclaimed to the Russian teenager.

A couple of walkers, that had managed to limp into each other's paths, had fallen through the ice and disappeared into the water below. "F***!" Luke exclaimed.

The group looked back to see a hole in the middle of the lake where there were two walkers prior. "Well that's two less to deal with." Jane muttered.

"We'll just stay spread out, and we'll be fine." Bonnie explained.

As a result of Kenny taking his eye off of the Russian teenager, Arvo took off at the fastest that he could limp.

"F***, Kenny, Arvo's gettin away!" Nick exclaimed.

"Hey!" Kenny called after the Russian teenager. However, Arvo continued to ignore the older man and continued to limp away. "Motherf*****!" Kenny spat, and he chased after the Russian teenager.

"Shit!" Mike exclaimed as he started to run after Kenny. "He's gonna kill him!"

"Kenny!" Bonnie yelled after Kenny hoping that the older man would stop.

"You get back here, you piece of shit!" Kenny exclaimed as he continued his pursuit of the Russian teenager. By this point, the group was chasing after Kenny and Arvo. Arvo continued to run from the older man until he fell through the ice. He managed to grab onto some of the remaining ice that hadn't broken off to prevent himself from drowning. However, Kenny came up from behind and helped him back onto the frozen lake. "I should let you drown, you piece of shit." Kenny spat.

"Please, don't hurt him, Kenny!" Clementine exclaimed. The group watched on as Kenny helped Arvo out of the frozen lake and pushed him to the shore. Mike sent a glare at the older man which Kenny chose to ignore and looked out to the remaining group members that were on the lake.

"Well, they made it." Jane said as she continued to move forward.

* * *

"Keeping that Russian shit can't be worth it." Nick muttered to Keith as they continued forward towards shore. "We can always find supplies somewhere else, somewhere that doesn't have a f****** deathtrap in front of it."

"I don't like it either, but we're already almost there. Let's just finish it." Keith said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Nick said. He looked back to check on Clementine and Luke but immediately stopped. "Oh, f***." Nick muttered.

Keith looked back to see Bonnie and Clementine looking towards Luke. Luke looked down towards his feet. His feet were spread apart as if to balance himself. Keith knew what was happening. Luke was standing on thin ice which was starting to crack under his weight.

* * *

Clementine looked on in horror as the evident sound of ice cracking could be heard from Luke's direction. He was staring at his feet which made it even more evident that he was going to fall through the thin ice. Bonnie approached Luke to which the young man said, "Don't come over here." Bonnie stopped and looked over to Clementine. The woman didn't know what to do. She looked back over to Luke as he continued, "Okay, I can make it. It's fine."

"You sure?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah." Luke replied. However, even he was stumped on how he was going to figure out a way across the lake. Luke looked back upon hearing the dreaded growl of the walkers approaching him.

"You got walkers on the way." Bonnie said as she slowly approached Luke. "Let me help you."

"It's too thin for both of us." Luke said. "I just… I just gotta be careful." Luke took a step forward which broke through the ice. He yelped upon falling through but he held onto the remaining ice that stayed in tack.

"Luke, no!" Bonnie exclaimed. She and Clementine rushed forward to help the young man.

"Hey, hey!" Nick exclaimed as he tried to chase after Clementine. He cared about Luke, but the last thing Nick wanted to see was Clementine falling through the ice.

"Stop, stop!" Luke exclaimed which stopped Clementine and Bonnie in their tracks. Nick stopped also and sighed in relief. "I'm fine. I'm fine." Luke said.

"No, you're not." Bonnie said.

"You need help, Luke." Clementine said.

"The ice is too thin. I got it." Luke explained.

"Clem, listen to him!" Nick exclaimed. The girl looked to Nick as he continued, "Luke has been in tougher jams. He'll figure something out!"

You're wrong, Nick!" Bonnie called back. The woman looked back to Clementine and said, "Clementine, you need to help Luke."

"No!" Luke exclaimed. "You're going fall through."

"Clem, go help him!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"No! Clem, just stay right where you're at! I'll be fine." Luke exclaimed.

"Clem, just go back for him. You're light. You can do it." Bonnie said.

Her words reached Nick's ears which made him shout, "Shut the f*** up, Bonnie!" Nick turned his attention to Clementine and said, "Clem, listen to me. Just let Luke figure it out. He can; he just needs time. Shoot those walkers, and he will get out of there."

"He'll die, Nick!" Bonnie argued. She looked to Clementine and continued, "You can save him but you need to go now." Bonnie grabbed her handgun from its holster and aimed at the approaching walkers.

"No, Clem. Listen to Nick. I just need a little time to figure this out." Luke said.

Clementine made her decision, and she started to walk over towards Luke. "Clementine, stop!" Kenny yelled from the shore.

"Clem, no!" Keith shouted. "Oh man, this is just going to get worse." The one-eyed boy muttered to himself, and he raced for the house. He remembered that Arvo mentioned something about a fireplace. He knew no matter what happened that someone was going to fall through the ice and into the water.

"Clementine, no! I'm begging you, please just listen to me for once!" Nick exclaimed. Nick has come to care about the young girl like she was his daughter. He didn't want her to put her life in danger like what she was doing at that very minute.

Clementine ignored Nick's pleas and slowly got closer to Luke as Bonnie shot any walkers that got too close to Luke. Luke was able to hoist himself out of the water as Clementine got closer.

Nick started to approach Clementine from behind. He had to get to her before the ice would break underneath her and Luke, but Nick was also nervous about falling through the ice as well.

"Just go back… please." Luke begged the girl.

"I…I got you." Clementine said as she extended her hand out to Luke to help him out of the water.

"Please… no." Luke said.

Nick looked up with his eyes widened in horror. "F***, no! NO!" Nick exclaimed.

"It's going to be alright." Clementine said to assure Luke. However just then, the ice broke through, sending both Clementine and Luke into the cold water underneath the ice.

…**To be continued.**

**A/N: Yeah, yeah, I know. Shitty time to call it, but whatever. You'll find out what happens in the next chapter. Anyway, once again, thank you to everyone who has favorite, followed, reviewed, and/or viewed this story. I didn't really think much of this story when I was first writing it, but you proved me wrong. So, thank you.**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Okay… how am I going to do this? There is a scene in here that is on the border line of sexual and survival. So if you want to give me flak for it, I wouldn't blame you, but I couldn't think of another way to write the scene…. Plus, it's kind of adorable, so you guys shouldn't be too overly offended by it. Anyway, on with the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Clementine swam through the cold water trying to get her bearings straight. She knew that she needed to go up to the surface to get air, otherwise she would drown. She quickly searched for the hole that was created when she and Luke fell through the ice. She finally eyed it and tried to swim towards it, only to have one of the two walkers that fell through the ice earlier to grab onto her foot. She kicked the walker's undying grip until she was able to slip her foot from its grasp. Clementine continued to swim towards the hole until the other walker floated in her direction.

Thankfully, Luke got behind the walker and threw it from the girl. However, the walker managed to latch onto Luke's foot. Luke's eyes widened in panic from the walker grabbing onto him as Clementine reached for the surface. She didn't notice Luke's predicament until she was underneath the hole that she feel through. Finally, she noticed that Luke was not with her. She looked down to see Luke struggling to free himself from the walker's grasp but to no avail. Clementine watched on in horror as the walker's weight dragged Luke further down into the deep, dark abyss of the lake. Luke looked to Clementine one last time with a look of regret before he disappeared to the murky depths below.

Clementine was suddenly yanked out of the cold water with a gasp. She was pulled out of the water with a coughing fit to get rid of any water that had managed to get in her throat while huffing to get air. She shivered more furiously than before and coughed, "Luke… Luke…"

"Oh f***! You're going to freeze to death!" Nick exclaimed as he noticed the unhealthy blue hue that took the place of her light brown skin. He immediately picked up the eleven year old and started to race towards the house. Clementine looked back to the hole in the middle of the lake as Nick carried her; she knew that Luke was dead… It didn't seem possible. Everything had just went too fast.

Nick rushed past Kenny as the older man exclaimed, "How the f*** did that happen?"

Nick carried Clementine into an open door and was relieved to see that Keith had planned ahead with a strong fire in the fireplace. The boy looked over to his girlfriend who was being carried by Nick and his eye widened. "Oh my gosh… Is she alright?" Keith asked.

"No, she's going to freeze to death. I…I don't know what to do." Nick said.

"Alright. First, we got to take that coat off. It's drenched and won't provide any warmth." Keith explained.

"Okay Nick said as he placed the girl near the fire. He quickly took her coat off and hung it nearby on a hook. Keith ran over and quickly placed a blanket around Clementine. "I'm not going to leave you." Keith assured the girl as he wrapped the blanket around her. He sat down next to her and placed her on his lap. "I got to get you warm, and this is the only thing I can think of." Keith explained as he wrapped his arms around the frozen girl.

"It's fine." Clementine breathed out a cold, visible breath. However, the fire, the blanket, and Keith's own body were starting to warm her up. Her whimpers started to die down as the group entered the room.

Nick looked to the girl worriedly. He didn't know what he could do for her. He had no medical experience. "Is everything alright? Is there anything we can do?" Jane asked Nick.

"You're asking the wrong person." Nick said. "I don't have any medical experience. The only one of us who really does is Keith."

"I got it from here." Keith said. "Her temperature should return to normal in a couple of hours as long as she stays in here. I'm going to stay and provide some of my body heat as warmth in the meantime." Keith looked over as he noticed that Arvo was looking at him with a glare which was followed by a satisfied smirk. He was happy to see that Clementine came close to dying in the lake and was now close to dying from hypothermia. Keith ignored the Russian teenager's cruelty and turned his focus to Clementine, "You should rest. You're going to need it."

Clementine's response came in the form of a quick head nod as she continued to shiver. She placed her head on Keith's chest and curled up in a ball to supply more warmth for her body. With Clementine starting to improve in her recent condition, the group turned its focus to the loss of yet another member. Meanwhile, Jane left the room to investigate the rest of the house further hoping to find the supplies that Arvo had mentioned.

"He's just gone…" Mike said sadly as Bonnie cried in the background. "Luke's f****** gone. We should've gone around."

"Dammit!" Kenny spat.

Nick's worry towards Clementine shifted to anger towards Bonnie. He approached her with his fist clenched. "You!" Nick snapped. "What the f*** was that back there?"

"I tried to save him!" Bonnie cried.

"No! You made Clem try to save him!" Nick exclaimed.

"Nick, this is no one's fault!" Mike exclaimed.

"Bonnie if you wouldn't have made Clementine go out there to save Luke, maybe he would have made it! But instead, you nearly got Clementine killed! The f*** is wrong with you? We keep children safe, no matter what!" Nick bellowed.

"Nick, chill the f*** out!" Mike exclaimed. "It was no one's fault, man! We should have gone around."

"Nick, I'm sorry, okay?" Bonnie cried. "I just wanted to save Luke in any way. Clementine was nearby and… shit, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

Nick released an angry grunt and turned around away from the group. "Dammit." Nick snapped. He lost his scowl and huffed out a long breath. "Luke is gone… And that's never going to change." Nick said sadly.

Mike looked to Nick sympathetically before he eyed a nearby cardboard box and placed AJ inside of it. "Once that ice started to go, there wasn't anything that we could do." Mike said.

Nick shook his head in distaste. He couldn't believe it. One of the most important people in his life… was gone. Bonnie continued to cry over Luke's loss as Clementine huffed. "I…I… tried to save him."

"We know Clem." Keith said sadly. "There's nothing else we could have done."

Kenny's glare intensified as he turned to Arvo. Arvo was the one to suggest passing across the frozen lake, so Luke's death and Clementine's near death were his fault. "You son of a bitch!" Kenny snapped as he approached Arvo. "This is your f****** fault!"

"You know what? He's right." Nick spat. "You told us that the ice was thick enough to cross. Now look what happened!"

"It's nobody's damn fault you two!" Mike exclaimed. "Now just stop!"

"Finding a scapegoat is not going to help anything!" Keith exclaimed. "It won't bring Luke back. Look, I admit that Arvo running off like that didn't help but… we all knew the risk of crossing that frozen lake… even Luke, and it just didn't work out!"

Nick released an angry grunt. He knew Keith was right. "F***!" Nick exclaimed and he walked away from Arvo and Kenny. Kenny, however, remained persistent and believed that Arvo was responsible for Luke's death.

"Look at this place. Just a stack of f****** toothpicks." Kenny spat. "Bet those magical supplies are bullshit too." Arvo glared down to the ground to avoid eye contact with the older man as he continued to rant. "What? No speaka de English?" Kenny spat as he pushed the Russian teenager.

Arvo looked up to Kenny with a glare and muttered, "F*** you."

Kenny was surprised by Arvo's statement which quickly shifted to a glare. "You f****** Commie piece of shit!" Kenny spat, and he punched Arvo.

The Russian teenager fell to the ground. Kenny got on top of Arvo as the Russian teenager muttered again, "F*** you."

"You motherf******!" Kenny spat as he started to beat on Arvo. Arvo grunted in pain with each hit. Kenny pulled off at least seven very hard punches to the teenager's face as the group watched on in horror.

"I got to… stop him." Clementine said as she tried to get up, but Keith's grasp was too strong for her to get out of.

"Stop." Keith said. "You need to get warm. Let the adults handle that." Clementine had no choice but to oblige, since she was too weak to get out of her boyfriend's grasp.

"Hey, come on. Stop." Nick said as he tried to separate Kenny from Arvo. Nick succeeded in pulling Kenny off of Arvo, but in return, Kenny punched Nick which sent him to the ground. "Ah f***!" Nick grunted in pain.

"You stay out of this boy!" Kenny bellowed at Nick. "What? You lose your taste for this sort of thing? I thought you enjoyed yourself when your boy over there killed his own dad!" Kenny gestured to Keith.

Arvo slowly got back up with his face bruised and beaten. Jane entered the room that the group was in and immediately saw Arvo's beaten face. "What did you do to him?" Jane asked. She was carrying a duffel bag which surprised the group. She approached Kenny and tossed the duffel bag to the ground in front of him and spat. "There's another just like it. He WASN'T lying."

Kenny picked up a can of chili that fell out of the duffel bag to examine it. He scowled and spat, "You wanna tell me how a can of f****** chili is gonna help a baby?"

"How is beating a kid nearly to death gonna help ANYONE!" Jane exclaimed.

"This is your fault, and you damn well know it." Bonnie said.

Kenny sent a glare at the accusing members of the group, before he huffed and turned to Arvo. "I'm tying him up." Kenny announced.

"Fine." Jane muttered.

"Probably for the best." Nick said as he got back up with a bruised cheek. "I still don't trust that Russian piece of shit."

"That makes three of us, counting Kenny." Keith said. Nick looked to Keith with a head nod before he smirked upon seeing that Clementine had fallen asleep on Keith's lap. Keith looked down but couldn't tell if his girlfriend had fallen asleep. He looked up and asked, "Is she asleep?"

"Yup." Nick replied. "I guess you got the magic touch, Boy Wonder."

Keith chuckled and looked back down at the sleeping girl and said, "Yeah, I guess so."

Kenny had finished tying Arvo up and grumbled to himself before leaving the room. Arvo sent a glare towards Keith once again as if the one-eyed boy was the source of his pain. Meanwhile, Nick looked out to the lake in front of the house with a mournful look. The rest of the group tried to warm themselves up by staying around the fire, since they had been going through winter conditions for the past two days without much warmth.

* * *

Clementine's eyes started to flutter open, and she slowly raised her head after hearing Mike's voice. "Let me take a look at you kid." Mike was squatted down in front of Arvo examining the boy's injuries. "Shit…" Mike muttered. "He coulda killed you. What the f*** is wrong with him?"

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Keith asked as his girlfriend as she watched Mike examine Arvo's wounds.

Her big eyes shifted to the boy who was holding her and she smiled. "I feel better." Clementine said.

Keith placed his right hand over her forehead and said, "Yeah, you're not cold anymore which is good."

Clementine started to slowly get up from Keith's lap and stretched. "How long have I been out?" Clementine asked as she enjoyed the relief that came to her joints from her stretching.

Keith got up with the blanket that was responsible for warming up his girlfriend and said, "I think you were out for two hours."

"Glad to see that you're up." Jane said from her seat at one of the benches. "Kenny's out back trying to get some stupid truck started."

"Where's Nick?" Clementine asked as she started to look around.

"He went outside an hour ago. I think he's still mourning Luke's death." Keith said as he placed his blanket in his backpack and put the backpack on.

Clementine went to sit on the bench next to Jane. The loner offered her a can of chili and said, "Here, you should eat something."

Clementine accepted the can as Mike asked, "You okay?" Clementine looked over to see him in front of Arvo.

In response, Arvo nodded his head. "Thank you." Arvo said with pain lacing his voice.

Clementine looked back to the can in her hand and scooped up some of its content to eat it. "I can't believe he's gone." Jane said. Keith and Clementine looked to the loner as she continued, "I've lost people before but… it just hasn't felt this… shitty for a long time."

"Luke was a good person… I think we all took that for granted at times." Keith said. "The way he risked his life for us… helped anyone that needed it… it's hard to find that kind of person nowadays." Clementine nodded her head in agreement and continued to eat the chili.

"Dammit." Jane muttered as she placed her head in the palm of her hand. She sighed in remorse and said, "I shouldn't have come back. I knew this would happen. I knew it."

"I know it looks bleak right now, but… we're going to be okay." Keith said.

Jane looked up to the boy and shook her head. "No, things are just going to get worse." Jane said. "You're bullshitting yourself if you think otherwise."

"What's the point in giving up?" Keith asked. "I didn't give up when my mom and future step-dad were killed. I kept going, and now look where I'm at."

"That only means that you have more to lose." Jane said.

"I'm going to go find something to clean that up." Mike said to Arvo which interrupted Jane's and Keith's conversation. They looked over to see the lean man get up. He started to walk out of the room in search of a rag to clean up Arvo's beaten face.

"Thank you… thank you…" Arvo muttered.

"I can't take this shit no more." Mike said as he left the room.

After Mike left, Keith and Jane sat in silence as Clementine finished off the can of chili and licked her fingers clean. Eventually, their silence was interrupted when Kenny entered the room. "Feelin better?" Kenny asked Clementine.

"Yeah." Clementine said.

Kenny nodded and said, "Good, it's been a hell of a day, but we gotta keep movin. If you're feelin up to it, I could use a hand out back with this truck." Clementine was surprised that Kenny wanted to move on so quickly. "This house ain't worth a crap but the vehicles ain't in bad shape. With a little luck, we can get one fixed up and be outta here by nightfall."

"Slow down." Keith said. "We just lost Luke, and we almost lost Clementine. I don't think anyone's really ready to move on yet. This house may be half built, but we can secure it. I think we all need a day's rest."

"Stay out of this boy. I'm talking to Clementine, not you." Kenny spat. Keith was surprised by Kenny's hostility as the man continued, "I know that you think you know what's best for Clementine, but you don't. You can't take care of her, or anyone for that matter! The way I see it, Rebecca died because of you! She would still be alive if you hadn't suggested to stay in that damn gift shop for five f****** days!"

"Alright, Kenny! I'll go outside and help you with that truck! Just give me a couple of seconds!" Clementine exclaimed, cutting off Kenny's rant.

Kenny was surprised that Clementine interrupted him, but he did get the response that he wanted. Kenny huffed and said, "I'll wait for you out back." The older man then left the room leaving Clementine with Jane and Keith.

"I'm so sorry about Kenny." Clementine said to Keith who shot a glare at Kenny.

"Don't worry about it." Keith said. "I'm used to it at this point."

"I'm going to talk to him." Clementine said. "There's no reason why he needs to act that way."

"Just… be careful, okay? I don't want him to hit you again." Keith said. Keith then looked out to the window and sighed, "I'd better go talk to Nick. He needs to come back inside before he freezes." Keith said, "I'll be back." He then left the room to go outside to talk to Nick.

Clementine looked to AJ somewhat worriedly. She couldn't leave the baby in the room alone. "I'll watch him." Jane said.

Clementine gave an appreciative glance and said, "Thank you." She got up and retrieved her coat which was no longer drenched by the cold water from the lake and headed out towards the front of the house where Kenny was.

**Nick and Keith**

Keith walked outside to see Nick at the edge of the lake. He was staring down into the now thawed lake which had become Luke's grave to the group. Keith walked up to Nick as the snow crunched underneath the boy's shoes.

"How is she?" Nick asked while not taking his eyes off the lake even for a second. He knew Keith was walking up to him.

"Clementine? She's okay." Keith said. He was finally standing next Nick as the young man continued to look at the body of water, not with a look of hatred but with a look of remorse. "Ar-Are you okay?" Keith asked.

Nick shook his head and said, "No, I'm not okay." The young man sighed and said, "It should have never been me. All of those people that we set out with. They were… all better people than me. They should be the ones standing here, not me. I should have died a long time ago. Alvin, Rebecca, Sarah, my own f****** brother, Luke! They're all gone… when it should have been me."

"You're going through survivor's guilt." Keith said. "What happened to them is not your fault."

Nick huffed and said, "I… I could have done more for them. I could have looked after Sarah better. I should have gave a f******* damn about AJ when Rebecca was still expecting!" Nick turned to Keith and said, "I'm not like you Keith. I don't have an ounce of good in me. The last time I went to church or even read a Bible for that matter was seventeen years ago."

"You're a good person, Nick." Keith said. "What would you call going out and risking your own life to save an eleven year old girl? What would you call that?" Nick's eyes widened as the boy continued, "You've protected me and Clementine like we were your own kin. You've helped out the group as much as you can."

"But what about my group? The people I was with at the cabin." Nick asked.

"They're watching over us Nick. All we can do now is… keep going as long as we can." Keith said.

Nick shook his head with a smirk. "I guess… I spent so long grieving that I… I forgot that Luke was still here." Nick got down to where he could place his hands on Keith's shoulders and continued, "You are Luke in many, many ways. Always trying to help people… putting your life on the line… that's what Luke did."

"I learned it from my dad." Keith said with his voice starting to crack as a couple tears started to form in his eyes.

"Really?" Nick asked with a comforting smile aimed at the boy.

"You didn't know him before." Keith said. "Before he became Bill, he was William Carver, a loving dad and husband and a God-fearing man who loved the Lord with everything he had. And I will always remember him like that."

Nick smiled at Keith before he hugged the boy tightly. Keith hugged Nick around the neck and the two shared a very caring, friendly hug with each other. After a couple of minutes, the two separated with tears in their eyes. "Let's go back inside." Keith said. "You're probably freezing out here."

Nick chuckled and said, "I won't lie. I am very cold." Nick got up, and they started to walk toward the house as the snow crunched under their feet. The cool wind blew by as Kenny's cursing could be heard in the background. Nick showed a face of confusion and asked, "The hell was that?"

"Kenny's trying to get a truck started on the other side of the house." Keith explained.

"Oh, that explains it." Nick said. The two entered the house and were greeted immediately to the pleasant warmth of the fire. "Whoa, that is nice." Nick said as he walked over to the fireplace to warm up.

Keith looked around to see only Mike treating Arvo's wounds. Mike looked to Keith as the boy looked around the room searching for the loner and infant. "Where's Jane and AJ?" Keith asked.

"She took him to one of the other rooms." Mike explained. "She was complaining about me and Arvo being too loud or something like that."

"Okay, thanks." Keith said and he left the room into one of the uncompleted rooms. He, eventually, entered a room where he found Jane with AJ in his makeshift cardboard crib. He walked over to see that Kenny was still trying to work on the truck. AJ started to whine to which Keith quickly responded by picking up the infant. He tried to rock the baby in his arms but the infant's cries were only getting louder.

"I think it needs food or something." Jane said.

"Yeah, you might be right." Keith replied as he took one of the bottles that was in the nearby bag which acted as AJ's diaper bag. He placed the bottle on the window sill and very carefully added a small amount of formula to the bottle. Meanwhile, AJ continued to cry. "Shhhh, I know buddy. I've almost got it ready for you." Keith said comfortingly as he placed the top of the bottle back on tightly. He shook the bottle for a couple seconds before he placed the nipple into the baby's mouth. "There. Is that better?" Keith asked.

"You've done that before." Jane concluded.

"Yeah." Keith replied. He then realized that he forgot to grab something. "Do me a favor. Look in that bag and find the burp cloth. It's a thin piece of cloth."

"Um… okay." Jane said as she got up and eventually found the item that Keith had requested. She gave it to the boy who placed it over the infant's upper body.

"Thanks." Keith said as he continued to feed AJ with the bottle.

"No prob." Jane said. The two then watched on to see Kenny try to get the truck working.

**Clementine and Kenny**

As Keith went to talk to Nick, Clementine left the warmth of the room and exited the half built house to a snow covered yard with several pieces of construction equipment and machinery. Kenny waited at the bottom of the steps for her.

Clementine reached the bottom of the steps as Kenny grunted, "What did she have to say? I know she was runnin her mouth. What did she say?" Kenny snapped as the two walked over to the truck.

"She's sad that Luke's gone." Clementine said.

"Really? That's it? That's all she said?" Kenny inquired.

"Yes, that's it." Clementine said with an angry tone in her voice as the two approached the truck.

Kenny turned to the girl who was looking to Kenny with an angry stare. "Alright then, but I'd lose the attitude if I were you." Kenny said in a scolding tone.

Clementine's glare intensified and she replied, "What's wrong with you, Kenny?"

"Wait, what?" Kenny asked surprised by Clementine's anger.

"Beating on Arvo and Nick, being a jerk to Keith, blaming Keith for Rebecca's death! What is wrong with you?" Clementine exclaimed.

Kenny lost all of his anger, and he looked down sadly. "Ahh… geez. Look, I'm sorry, alright? I just… you have no idea what kind of person Arvo is like. And Keith, if anything, that boy has only got one thing on his mind. And I didn't like what I saw when I entered the house."

"Will you stop saying that?" Clementine said. "Keith is a Christian. He isn't going to do anything to harm me. So, you don't have to protect me from him."

Kenny looked down sadly as he realized his mistake and said, "I'm sorry darlin."

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to." Clementine said. "You need to apologize to Keith and Nick."

Kenny sighed and said, "You're right and I will. Can we, uh, get this thing going first?" Kenny gestured to the truck next to him and Clementine. "What's done is done. But AJ needs us now. We gotta stick together on this thing alright?" Clementine hesitated for a couple of seconds before she nodded in response. Kenny smiled to see that the girl was compliant in getting the vehicle to work and handed her the keys to the vehicle. "Come on. Let's see if the truck is gonna go." Kenny said encouragingly.

Kenny popped the hood open to the vehicle as Clementine climbed up into the driver's seat. She placed the keys into the ignition "My daddy always had a half dozen wrecks he was fixin up." Kenny explained as he tinkered with the engine. "He was a mean son of a bitch. But he taught me respect. Girl like Jane could learn a thing or two about that."

"We're all just tired." Clementine said. "Maybe in time, you'll like her."

Kenny looked up to Clementine with a questionable look and said, "Hmm… maybe. Hell, I didn't know what to make of Lee at first. Course he helped me and mine more times than I could remember."

"Jane did help us back on the road." Clementine said.

Kenny finished toying with the engine and said, "Alright, give it a turn." Clementine reached for the key that was in the ignition and twisted it, but the truck made no noticeable noise.

Kenny looked at the engine with a smirk. He looked up to the girl and said, "We're so close Clem. With a little bit of luck, we can get this thing runnin, and then we can get out on the road and really make some distance." Kenny looked out into the forest for a second before turning to Clementine again, "Wellington's got to be out there. Those rumors can't all be bunk."

"Sounds good to me." Clementine said as Kenny started to mess with the vehicle's engine again.

Kenny looked up to Clementine with a smirk and said, "We're going to make it Clem. I know it." Kenny went back to work on the engine for a couple of minutes leaving Clementine in silence. The cold wind blew by but it didn't affect her as much as earlier. "Alright, turn it again." Kenny said as he looked back up to Clementine. She turned the key which once again didn't produce any results. "Did you turn it?" Kenny inquired with an angry tone in his voice.

"Yes." Clementine replied.

"Dammit!" Kenny spat as he kicked the vehicle. Kenny sighed in frustration and he turned to the woods.

"We'll get it working." Clementine said encouragingly to the older man.

"We gotta keep movin if we're gonna keep AJ alive. We're running out of time. That's what your boyfriend didn't understand back there. If we wait here, AJ will die. It's as simple as that." Kenny said. He then turned to the vehicle and continued, "I gotta get this thing to start." Kenny thought to himself for a couple of seconds until he said, "Gonna try warmin up the battery." Kenny looked to Clementine and said, "Go on inside. I don't like leavin AJ with that girl."

Clementine exited the vehicle as Kenny went back to working on the engine again. Clementine headed back toward the house. She noticed Bonnie sitting at the steps smoking a cigarette with a clearly remorseful look on her face. Clementine went to the woman and sat down next to her as Bonnie huffed out some of the smoke from her cigarette.

"Want one?" Bonnie asked.

"No thanks." Clementine said.

Bonnie gave a slight smirk before it fell. She sighed and said, "Nick's pretty damn mad at me. Not to say that I blame him. That was stupid. I shouldn't have made you go back for Luke."

"I wanted to go back to save him." Clementine said sadly. "You didn't make me do anything."

"You're wrong. If anything, I should have taken that risk of falling through the ice." Bonnie said.

"Well, I'm not mad at you, so stop feeling guilty about it." Clementine said.

Bonnie looked to the eleven year old with a smirk and said, "Thank you." The two enjoyed a couple of moments in silence until Bonnie said, "You ever done somethin you regret? Even if it's somethin you knew you had to do?"

Clementine sighed and said, "All the time. I regret that I couldn't save my friends. I regret that I didn't take the blame for the walkie-talkie and now Keith has only got one eye. And I also regret that I got my guardian, Lee, killed."

"That's a lot of regrets." Bonnie said sadly. "You know… I'll say one thing about Luke. No matter where you end up, there's always one bad seed rockin the boat. But I don't think that he was ever that guy." Bonnie took another whiff from the cigarette. Bonnie exhaled a small puff of smoke and said, "Lemme ask you something, Clem." Clementine turned to Bonnie as the woman continued, "When's the last time anyone did what you wanted to do?"

Clementine turned back to facing forward while contemplating on the question. After a couple of seconds, Clementine replied, "I'm just a kid. No one would really listen to me."

"Maybe you ought to start making yourself be heard." Bonnie suggested as she took another whiff from her cigarette. She blew out some of the white smoke and said, "You know I've been all over. Run with a lotta people. A lotta men. And listened to a lotta promises. Ain't one of em come true." She looked out toward the forest and said, "I'm startin to think that there might be another way, you know?"

Clementine stared back at the woman as Bonnie finished off her cigarette. She got up and dropped the burnt out cigarette bud on the ground to stomp on it. "I'm going to go take a piss." Bonnie said leaving the child at the stairs. As Bonnie left for the privacy of the woods, Clementine stayed at the stairs. She contemplated on what Bonnie had said about voicing her own opinion. Did she really want to go to Wellington? Of course she did. It was safe there. It may be cold but she could get used to it. Besides, Keith promised her to take her out on their first date when they would get there. Plus, Christa was going there. Wellington was the best chance to find Christa.

Satisfied by her own reasoning, Clementine got up and opened the door to get inside of the half-built house. Upon entering, she heard AJ starting to whine momentarily only to be silent a couple seconds later. Clementine walked toward the source of the quick cries from the infant which was the nearest room to the door. Inside the room, Jane looked out the window towards the truck that Kenny was working on as Keith rocked the infant in his arms. Keith was also watching Kenny. He found that the older man's temper tantrums were entertaining.

…**To be continued.**

**A/N: Alright, I got to get this out there. I liked Luke as a character, but I hated writing dialogue for him. I'm not sure if it's just me but the way Luke turns a statement into a question just annoys the living heck out of me. Still he was an awesome character. And I imagine that y'all will give me flak for killing him off. Wouldn't blame you.**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Sorry if you were expecting an awesome chapter with plenty of thrills and excitement. This is more of a filler chapter. Sorry, but these are still very important. It's for character development, and I was trying to keep the word count somewhat consistent in my chapters. This huge mess was originally over 6000 words.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Jane turned from the window and noticed Clementine with a smile. "Hey." Jane said.

Keith turned around to look at his girlfriend as she greeted her fellow survivors. "Hey." Clementine said. She turned to Keith and asked, "Did you get Nick to come back inside?"

"Yeah." Keith said. "He feels guilty for what happened to Luke and the rest of our group."

Clementine looked down sadly as she recalled how quickly their numbers had dwindled. "I wouldn't blame him for thinking that way. I kind of feel the same way." Clementine admitted.

"You can't think that way." Keith said solemnly. "It's no one's fault for what happened to them. Things just didn't work out." With AJ now asleep, Keith placed the sleeping infant into the makeshift crib. He looked back to his girlfriend and continued, "I know it's easy to think that our friends died, but they didn't. They're in Heaven right now, and they're watching over us."

Clementine smiled to her boyfriend's encouragement and said, "You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just… It's hard to lose people, especially people I care about."

"I hear that." Jane said sadly.

Keith and Clementine looked over to Jane with Clementine looking to the loner with curiosity "Why aren't you in the room where the fire is?" Clementine asked. "I bet AJ would be more comfortable in there."

"Mike and Arvo wouldn't shut up, so I moved AJ in here." Jane explained.

Clementine nodded understandingly in response which followed with her sitting down next to the infant and loner. Keith joined alongside her and the two looked affectionately towards each other. However, the moment didn't last as they both heard Kenny curse outside. The three looked to the window to see Kenny kick the vehicle as if doing so would make the it start.

They turned back to facing one another as Jane muttered, "I've seen that look before."

"He'll be fine." Clementine said as she looked back to the loner.

"Clem, he beat that boy within an inch of his life. We are way past fine." Jane said.

Clementine was surprised by Jane's statement. She hoped the woman was wrong and turned to Keith. Keith sighed and said, "I don't know, Clem. I know that there was something off about him when I first met him… and it just seems that he's getting worse by the minute. He cares about you and AJ, but that's all he does care about."

"He's trying to get the truck working… for the group." Clementine said. However, Clementine looked down sadly. Even she wasn't sure if her words were correct.

"Maybe… I just don't know anymore. I know Kenny's a nice guy, Clem." Jane admitted. "I bet Carver was a nice guy too, once. He had everything a man wanted, a nice job, a nice wife…" Jane looked to Keith and continued, "… a nice kid." Jane turned back to Clementine and said, "Then all of this happened. And one day, he caved some kid's face in and realized he could sleep at night." Jane looked to Keith and asked, "Am I right?"

"More than you know." Keith said sadly.

"Kenny isn't Carver. He just made a mistake." Clementine said.

"Clem, I wish you were right. I really, really do. But the last thing I ever want to see happening is for someone else to go through what I went through, especially someone I love." Keith said.

"Keith's right." Jane said. "You need to start thinking about what happens if you're wrong." Clementine looked out to the truck as Jane continued, "You two have known each other for a long time. Sooner or later, you're gonna have to decide how much that's worth." Clementine looked back to Jane before she looked down sadly. It was hard for her to grasp the idea that one of her long lost friends had now become more of a threat.

"Who knows?" Keith said which caught his girlfriend's attention. She looked to him as he continued, "Maybe Jane and I… maybe we're wrong. Maybe Kenny will turn around on a new leaf, once he gets out of this madness. I just… I just really hope that I'm wrong on this. I hope I'm wrong about Kenny."

"Me too." Clementine said sadly. She looked down with a doubtful stare. She wanted to think that Kenny would be okay, but nothing seemed to indicate that he was improving.

The solemn scene among the three was broken up by AJ who started to whimper. Keith got up and picked up the infant from his make-shift cardboard crib. He rocked AJ in his arms which soon stopped the infant's cries.

"It looks like you've done that before." Jane remarked.

Keith smirked and looked to Clementine before looking back to Jane. Jane didn't like what she was seeing. Both children had a mischievous smirk aimed at her. "Want to try?" Keith asked as he tried to hand off AJ to Jane.

"No way. It's going to puke." Jane said. Keith ignored the woman's response and tried to hand the baby off to Jane, anyway. "Keith no." Jane said as Keith succeeded in giving her the infant.

Jane gave a quick glare at the two children as Clementine explained, "Hold him like this." She held up her arms in a cradling position which was specialized for the infant.

Jane looked down at AJ and smiled to the baby in her arms. "Hey. Um hi. My name's Jane." Jane said awkwardly. She looked back up to Clementine and Keith and said, "It's going to puke."

Keith chuckled and said. "It's a possibility. I just fed him."

Clementine rolled her eyes and said, "He's not going to puke."

AJ started to cry again before he spat out a liquid like substance. "It puked! It puked!" Jane exclaimed. Keith quickly grabbed the infant as Jane muttered, "Gross." She wiped off the throw up as Keith attempted to burp AJ.

"That explains why he wasn't burping for me earlier." Keith said as patted AJ's back to help the infant to burp.

Jane sighed and said, "You know, this isn't the first time that I've dealt with a situation like this one. One where we had a guy, someone who was like Kenny. We didn't know what to do with him, and well… it really didn't end well." Jane said in reference to a group that she was with in the past. Clementine and Keith looked to the woman attentively as she continued, "I was running with some people a long time ago, down near DC. Some guy got trapped in the middle of the crosswalk. Can't remember his name. He used to call me Mary Jane." Jane chuckled slightly from the inappropriate nickname and continued, "He was a douchebag. Anyway, the dick got stuck under a car hiding from a dozen walkers. One after another, they went down there trying to save him. We lost four people before we finally got him out."

"So he made it, right?" Clementine asked as Keith placed AJ back in his crib. The infant had calmed down and was now ready to sleep again.

Jane slowly shook her head and said, "Didn't find out 'til later he was already bit. Turned and ripped the neck right outta this old lady." Jane looked down somewhat saddened and somewhat confused. "The look on her face was… She was just staring up at the sky. Like she was watching a bird." In the background, the sound of a truck's engine was heard which was an improvement from earlier. It was revving but it wasn't quite running yet.

"What are you trying to say?" Clementine asked.

"Listen, Clem…" Jane started to say until the three inside heard the engine of the truck start up.

They looked out to the window to see Mike and Nick run up to the working vehicle. "He got it working." Clementine said with enthusiasm in her voice. She left the room to investigate the working vehicle with Keith following behind her.

* * *

Clementine and Keith exited the house with a tang of enthusiasm which was shown through their excited dash towards the truck. Finally, something was going right! As they approached the vehicle, both children shivered momentarily from chilled air. Thankfully, the wind wasn't blowing; otherwise, it would have been cooler.

"It works?" Mike asked as the two children ran up to the working truck.

"What'd I tell you?" Kenny said.

"So, what's the plan?" Mike asked as Kenny turned off the vehicle. Jane slowly approached the vehicle last with a skeptical look on her face. She knew the group's happiness wouldn't last long.

"How much food do we have?" Bonnie asked.

"Plenty." Nick muttered. "But… we don't have much formula left for AJ."

"Then that should be our next priority." Clementine said.

"We should find some place for the baby. Some place warm." Mike explained.

Keith shook his head and said, "No, I can't go anywhere warm for a little while. My left eye might get infected, or I guess where my left eye used to be." Keith placed his hand where the bandages and continued. "Warm climates have bugs and bugs like human blood and a lot of bugs carry diseases. Let's just focus on getting formula."

"The baby will freeze. We should head back down south." Bonnie argued.

"What?" Kenny inquired as he got out of the vehicle and closed the door behind him.

"We're going to freeze to death." Jane explained as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't know whose stupid idea it was to march up here in the first place, but it was a bad one."

"She's right." Mike said.

"What if we went back to Howe's?" Bonnie suggested.

"Wait, what? F*** that." Mike said somewhat surprised by the suggestion. "I was thinking more like Texas."

"Yeah, that's real bright. Go someplace where the mosquitos will have a field day with Keith's eye." Nick spat.

"It was just a suggestion." Mike said.

"We already talked about this." Kenny said.

"I'm sorry, we did?" Mike asked.

"We're going to find Wellington. Right, Clem?" Kenny said.

"Wellington?" Jane inquired.

"Kenny, it's freezing up here man." Mike said.

"Guys, it's worth a try." Nick said.

"Yeah, so you can get Rebecca's baby killed. Is it really worth trying that hard?" Jane inquired.

"That's not going to happen." Nick spat.

"Even if Wellington is just rumor, other people have heard about it." Keith said. "They would have already set up their own community by now."

"Yeah, let's go to Wellington." Clementine said.

"Damn straight." Kenny said with a proud smile. He was happy to see that the young girl was finally agreeing with him.

"Clem?" Bonnie said with a tang of disappointment in her voice. She couldn't believe that the girl had already just went ahead and did what others had told her to do. Jane, also, shook her head in disappointment at the young girl.

"My friend, Christa, was heading up there. I might see her again if I go to Wellington." Clementine explained.

"Let's just sleep on it. We don't have to go right this minute." Bonnie said.

"Yeah, that might be for the best. It's getting pretty dark out here." Nick added.

"Dammit, we don't have time!" Kenny exclaimed.

"Says you." Jane said.

"Look, I don't give two shits about what you people think." Kenny said as he received glares from everyone within the group with the exception of Clementine and Keith. "I got this truck workin, so I say where we go, and we're heading f****** north. It's the best chance we got of helpin AJ."

Nick lost his glare and sighed. He couldn't argue with Kenny's logic. Nick hoped that he could give AJ a decent childhood for his now deceased friends. "Guys… I have to admit that maybe going north will be worth it. I mean there's probably a safe zone up there. That's more than what I can say for down here."

Mike looked down with concern traced in his features. He looked back up and asked, "What about Arvo?"

"Who?" Kenny spat. "Oh, the Ruskie? Yeah, he ain't coming with us."

"You're just going to leave him hear?" Mike exclaimed.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea to me." Nick said. "We'll leave early before he wakes. We'll leave him some food, medicine, and a gun. He'll figure it out."

"He'll f****** die, Nick!" Mike bellowed. "He should come with us!"

Nick seethed stared Mike down with an angry glare. "You need to decide whose f****** side you're on. It's either us or that asshole kid who nearly got us killed because, bottom line, he is NOT coming with us."

"We're all on the same side! The side of the living!" Mike exclaimed. Mike looked around the group and noticed that no one else seemed to care about the Russian teenager. "So you're just going to let him die out here?"

"Yeah, I don't give a f******* damn on where he goes. He's done." Kenny spat. Mike glared at the two men with a searing glare. He was completely frustrated that the two men were willing to let a teenager die.

"Why don't we ask him what he wants to do?" Clementine suggested. Her voice was tinted with fear. She has seen Kenny act this way before. He treated Ben the same way.

"There's a concept." Jane said.

"He knows the area. He can help us." Mike said.

"A map can do the same thing, and we won't have to worry about finding a knife in someone's back the next morning." Nick spat.

"We don't have a f****** map, Nick." Mike spat.

"Look, I hate to admit it, but Mike's right." Keith said. "Arvo might be able to help us avoid some of the rough areas on the way up to Wellington."

"I still don't like him coming with us." Nick said with a sad expression on his face. "I don't want to lose you or Clem."

"You won't lose us. We've been looking out for each other. We'll be fine." Clementine said.

"Nick…" Mike said to get the young man's attention. Nick looked up to Mike as he continued, "Arvo is not going to hurt Clem, Keith, or AJ. He just made a mistake by attacking us. I mean look at him; he can barely walk. What is he possible going to do to Clem and Keith?"

"He got Luke killed." Kenny muttered.

"I ain't gonna say that he helped the situation, but maybe if you'd eased up on him before, he wouldn't have run away in the first place. You ever think about that, Kenny?" Mike said with a glare aimed at the older man.

"Either way, I'm not going anywhere in the middle of the night." Jane said.

"Yeah, I agree. It would be suicide to drive off in the middle of the night." Nick said.

Kenny turned to Nick with a glare aimed at the young man. "You want that child's blood on your hands, Nick?"

"We're all going to die if you don't calm the f****** down, Kenny." Nick spat.

"Haven't we been through enough for one day?" Jane inquired.

"F****** shit." Kenny spat. He turned to Clementine and asked, "You remember the last time we had a workin vehicle and sat around on our asses, Clem?"

Clementine looked down sadly as she recalled the events that Kenny had mentioned. Keith looked to her curiously and whispered, "What happened?"

"What happened is that some asshole invalids stole it from us, right under our f****** noses!" Kenny spat.

Jane sighed in defeat and muttered, "I'm going inside." True to her word, Jane walked away from the group with an angry scowl in her features.

Kenny scowled at the woman before he shouted, "F****** dammit!" He opened the door to the truck and slammed it shut. Both Keith and Clementine shuttered from the loud sound of the door slamming shut as the rest of the adults watch on with a frustrated look.

Nick shook his head and sputtered, "F*** this. I'm going back inside." Nick left the group as Bonnie and Mike looked over to each other.

Finally, they both left the truck. They figured that talking to Kenny wouldn't be worth the trouble. Mike stopped in his place and turned to Clementine. "You better talk some sense into him… for his sake."

Clementine looked down and huffed as Mike left to go back inside. Keith turned to the girl and said, "Maybe we should just give him some space."

"No, I probably should talk to him." Clementine said. She looked back to the truck before she turned to her boyfriend. "Keith, go ahead and go back inside. I'll be okay."

"No, I'll wait for you." Keith said. "Besides, I'd get pretty lonely in that house." He grabbed his girlfriend's hands and continued, "Be careful."

"You got it." Clementine said with a smile. Keith released his grip on her hands and watched her walk to the truck while he stood by. He wanted to stay just in case Kenny would go off again and try to attack Clementine.

Clementine opened the door and overheard Kenny's grumbling. "The f***? Go away! Get out of here!" Kenny barked as he swatted at the person who tried to enter the passenger side.

"It's just me." Clementine said.

"Clem?" Kenny said surprised that he had been yelling at the girl. "Sorry… just… come on in."

Clementine obliged as she got into the vehicle's passenger seat. She closed the door to keep herself warm as Kenny continued to grumble. "I can't believe this shit." Kenny spat. He turned to the child and asked, "Can you believe this, Clem? I bring 'em a workin' truck, and they act like I just shit in their f****** cereal! I knew Jane would have a stick up her ass, but I thought at least Mike'd have more sense."

"We're all just tired from today's walk. Everyone will be in a better mood tomorrow. We can decide what to do then." Clementine said. Kenny looked down with his scowl now gone. "Kenny we aren't going to lose the truck or AJ. Just relax. We're safe for now." She placed a comforting hand on the older man's shoulder.

Kenny looked up to the child with calmer expression before he shrugged her hand off. "Look Clem, we got a day's worth of food for that kid left. That's it. You got to think about Rebecca and Alvin." Clementine looked down sadly at the mention of AJ's deceased parents. She missed them, both of them, and she knew AJ would ask questions about them in the future. "Clem…" Kenny said to get the girl's attention. Clementine looked up to Kenny as he continued, "What if Lee hadn't gone tearin across half of Georgia lookin for you? A lotta folks died to make that happen. We can't just let them die in vain."

"So we have to keep moving, but where are we going to find baby formula?" Clementine asked.

"I don't know…" Kenny muttered. He sighed and leaned against the driver's side door of the truck. He was lost in thought for a couple of seconds until he muttered, "I wish Lee was here." Clementine looked down sadly as Kenny continued, "What'd you think he'd say?"

"He would try to keep the group together and tell us that one day things will get better." Clementine said as she recalled her guardian's dying words

Kenny hummed in agreement and said, "Yeah… that's what he always tried to do. He always tried to keep the group together." Kenny smiled to the new words of encouragement and stood upright from his slouched position against the door. "And that's what we got to do." Kenny said. "We can't just give up on this kid. I mean what's the point of goin' on after that. That's what people like Lee knew, and what people like Jane won't ever understand." Kenny turned to the young girl next to him and continued, "Look, I know Wellington might be bullshit. But where there's smoke, there's fire. I mean, Christa heard about it too."

"Yeah, just like Keith said. There's a settlement up there either way." Clementine said.

"Yeah…" Kenny said. "You know, when I first saw you back at the lodge, I thought I was dreaming. And when you sat down next to me with that boy, Keith. I was frustrated. I was happy to see you, but I knew there was something not right about that boy. I guess there was one thing that Jane did get right. I mean, you're not ready for a boyfriend. You're too young, but you know, I guess that was a sign that you were growing up. I felt sad when I… well hit you, but I just wasn't ready for you to grow up. Clem, I need you now. I need you to not care about Keith and Nick. You have to worry about AJ and only AJ."

"Kenny, we're going to need other people to help us. Nick and Keith care about AJ too, but they also care about the group." Clementine said.

"I… I just don't know, Clem. I mean, I still don't trust them especially that kid. I mean he murdered his f******* dad for fun. What do you call that?" Kenny spat.

"He did that out of necessity. He didn't want his dad to be put through any more pain." Clementine said. "Keith is not a monster, Kenny."

Kenny hummed but this time it was out of disappointment and skepticism. "We'll see…" Kenny muttered. The two sat in silence for a few minutes which ended when Kenny huffed and said, "I guess we'll figure things out in the morning." Kenny opened the driver's side door and slid out of his seat. "Come on, let's get some sleep 'cause we got to be ready when tomorrow comes." Kenny said as he closed the door to the truck.

Clementine watched him through the use of the review mirror. He approached the house showing some signs of fatigue. She watched him until he entered the house before she got out of the truck, as well. As she walked up to the house, she noticed Keith waiting patiently for her. "Everything go alright?" Keith asked as he got up and approached her.

"…Yeah." Clementine said. She didn't reply for several minutes, and instead, she looked down to the ground with a slight smirk. "I… remembered when… when I used to beg my parents to take me up north. I've always wanted to play in the snow."

"You know, I actually lived a little more to the north from here. I used to play in the snow. It… well it was fun." Keith said.

The two looked to snow covered ground until Clementine asked, "Keith, do you think things will ever return to how they were?"

Keith didn't reply for a couple of seconds until he said, "…Yeah. I don't know when, but at some point, things will get better."

"I hope you're right." Clementine said with a frown on her features.

"Well, I'm here, aren't I? Don't I make things better?" Keith asked as he placed two fingers under his girlfriend's chin and lifted her head up.

"More than you know." Clementine replied. Through his recent growth spurts, Keith was now taller than Clementine, but not by much, so neither of the two had to stand on the tip-toes to reach the other's lips. The kiss was more potent than any of the earlier ones. Clementine wrapped her arms around the boy's neck as he wrapped his arms around her back. The kiss felt as though it lasted for a long time, but in reality, it was only a minute.

Finally, the two separated from the kiss and huffed. They both blushed as a result of the intimate contact of the kiss. "That was amazing." Keith huffed.

"Yeah, I think we're improving." Clementine said. The two stood by as the wind blew by. They weren't too cold but they would soon have to head inside to get warm as the temperature continued to drop every few seconds. "So… once we get to Wellington, do you think it would be safe enough to let my hair grow out? I kind of miss having my hair thick, especially now."

"I think it would be safe enough for you to do that at Wellington." Keith said.

"That's good." Clementine said. "I can't wait to get up there. It'll be everything we've wanted. It'll be safe. We won't have to go to bed hungry for once. And best of all, we won't lose any more people because of the walkers."

"Yeah, it'll be pretty good." Keith said with a sad look on his face.

"Wh-What's wrong? You're not happy that we're going to Wellington?" Clementine asked.

"I-No, it's just..." Keith said; however, he trailed off. Clementine looked to the boy worriedly until he huffed. Keith looked back up to the girl and said, "Clem, I have little doubt that Wellington is out there, but… what if Wellington's overcrowded. I mean a walled city can only hold a certain amount of people before it starts to become hazardous. What if there's no room left at Wellington?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Clementine said as she regained her smile. "The important thing is that I have you, AJ, and Nick. We're going to make it Keith." Clementine kissed the boy's cheek. She stood in front of him as the boy blushed with smile on his face.

"I love you." Keith said.

"I love you, too." Clementine said.

A cold wind blew by which made both children shiver. "Let's go back inside. It's getting really cold out here." Clementine suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Keith said. The two proceeded to walk back to the cabin and went inside. They both arrived at the fireplace with most of the adults gathered around. Instead of a lighter atmosphere, this time, Mike and Bonnie were clearly arguing about something.

"He's crazy. We can't go further north." Mike said.

"Well, what else are you wanting to do?" Bonnie asked. Bonnie looked over to see Keith and Clementine join them around the fireplace. She looked back to Mike and said, "We'll talk about this later." Bonnie looked to Clementine and asked, "Hey Clem, did you get Kenny to calm down?"

"Yeah, he came back inside a few minutes ago." Clementine said.

"A few minutes, huh?" Bonnie asked with a smirk. "I noticed that you and Keith entered the room at the same time. So you were both outside, all by yourselves… what were you two doing?"

"Nothing." Clementine and Keith said simultaneously.

"Nothing, huh?" Mike said with a smirk on his features. "I think there had been something going on."

"Knowing these two, there was definitely something going on." Nick said.

"Nick, you're not helping." Keith said with a smirk on his features.

"Can't you guys pick on someone else?" Clementine asked.

"We would if there was someone else who was in a relationship." Mike said. Clementine rolled her eyes as the conversation started to transition into silence, but the silence was very comfortable. The fire sizzled and crackled as Mike hummed. "You know I would always enjoy nights like this. I would have Tina with me and we just enjoyed the warmth of the fire."

"Tina? Was that your wife?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah…" Mike said sadly. "If there was anyone I wish that I could save, it was her."

"We've all been there." Bonnie said as she placed a supportive hand on Mike's shoulder.

Mike sent an appreciative smile to Bonnie and continued, "I know one thing that I'm thankful for because of those damn walkers. I'm thankful that I don't have to put up with my asshole boss."

"Where did you used to work?" Clementine asked

"I used to work in construction. I wanted to go into it, since my dad did the same to support the family. I wish that I could have known what I was getting myself into at the time." Mike said.

"Hah, you think you had it bad, Luke and I tried to start up our own business. It flopped almost immediately. After that, we had plenty of collection assholes calling us daily. That shit sucked." Nick chuckled.

"Let's see, before all of this madness, I used to work at a convince store. Not the best job in the world, but I managed." Bonnie said.

The three adults looked over to Keith and Clementine awaiting for the two to tell what they did before the outbreak. The two children shrugged before Clementine said, "We were both too young to have a job before the walkers."

"Well then, tell us what grade you were both in." Nick said.

"Okay well, I was in third grade. I remember up to that point." Clementine said.

"I was in fourth grade." Keith said.

"Boy, we got a couple of elementary kids, huh?" Mike said.

"It's not like we stopped learning. We've just been learning different things." Clementine said.

"Yeah, you got a point there." Bonnie said. "You've both learned to survive." The mood soon became dark and solemn as the five at the fire place looked to the dancing flames. "Well then... does anyone else have anything to go on top of that?" The group looked to Bonnie with attentive stares aimed at the woman. Bonnie sighed upon realizing that no one in the group knew what to say. "Alright then, I guess it's up to me to lighten the mood. Would y'all rather have a snake for a tongue or lobster claws for hands?" Bonnie asked with a smirk on her face.

"A what?" Mike chuckled Keith and Nick laughed and Clementine giggled at the hilarious and absurd question.

"Would you rather have a snake for a tongue or lobster claws for hands?" Bonnie asked while she tried to stifle her giggling.

"What kind of question is that?" Mike asked.

"Oh come on. Don't be a sour puss; it's fun." Bonnie said. "My friend, Leland, and I used to do this all the time."

"Does the snake have free reign or can I control it?" Nick asked.

"Free reign." Bonnie said.

"Crap… alright, I'd still go with the snake for a tongue. I think it'd be kind of cool to have a snake for a tongue." Nick said.

"Alright, how about you Keith?" Bonnie asked as she turned to the boy.

"Lobster claws for arms. I always found those to be really cool." Keith said.

"Alright, Clem what would you want? Lobster claws for arm or a snake for a tongue?" Bonnie asked.

Clementine pondered for a couple of seconds before she said, "Why not both?"

"Well there's an idea." Mike chuckled.

"Hey, there was no 'both' option." Nick chuckled. "I thought the point of the game is to choose."

"But both sound like good options. I don't think I can choose." Clementine giggled.

Bonnie laughed and said, "She's got a point there."

The group busted out laughing at the ridiculous game and the answers that came. Each person was given a turn to ask their fellow group member of what wacky object would replace a specific body part. The game came to an end later on that night. Despite everything that had happened to them, the group was still doing everything they could to keep their spirits high.

…**To be continued.**

**A/N: I didn't realize this until now because I did not know how many chapters I would be doing for this particular FanFic, but this is probably the third to last chapter of SoT before Season 3 and this Fic will going into Season 3 territory.**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: This chapter… oh man. Shit got real!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

**Hours Later**

Clementine kept hearing a light knocking sound which finally woke her up. She looked around the room and noticed that the only two people inside were Nick, who was snoring loudly; and Keith, who slept next to her. Mike, Bonnie, and Arvo were nowhere to be seen. Clementine knew that Kenny was sleeping in the other room with AJ while Jane preferred to be alone and away from the group. She was curious on their whereabouts, but she also knew that Mike and Bonnie were capable enough to handle themselves. She got up and went to the source of the light knocking which came from the front of the house where the working truck was. She rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes before she opened the door to go outside.

The wind howled as Clementine exited the house. She looked over to see a dangling plug which had been creating the noise by hitting off the window. Clementine was about to head back inside to tell Nick that Bonnie, Mike, and Arvo were missing until she heard a sharp metal squeal. It was from the truck. The inside of the vehicle lit up because of the door being open. Clementine noticed two figures at the truck. One was taller and leaner while the other was shorter and slimmer.

Clementine descended down the stairs and approached the truck quietly. She tried to get a better look at who was messing with the truck, but despite getting close to the two people, she still couldn't make them out. "Who's there?" Clementine asked.

The smaller of the two heard the girl and immediately grabbed what appeared to be a hunting rifle from the driver's seat. He aimed the gun at her, while she immediately drew her handgun. Now having a good look of the smaller individual, Clementine recognized who he was. "Arvo?" Clementine asked.

The taller person turned around and revealed himself to be Mike. "Easy. Easy now." Mike said as he stepped closer to Clementine as the girl frowned in disappointment.

"Step back." Clementine said as she tried to put up a strong face.

"Clem?" Mike said. "Shit." He clearly didn't want the girl to be there.

"What are you doing?" Clementine asked.

"I got the rest of it." Bonnie whispered as she approached Mike and Arvo. Clementine looked over to the woman with a shocked expression. Bonnie was carrying the supplies that they had found earlier. "Clem?" Bonnie said with a surprised look.

"We're just leaving." Mike said as Bonnie walked over to him and Arvo. Arvo looked to the two adults before looking over to Clementine. "Now keep it down, alright?" Mike continued. Clementine looked to him with disappointment. She now knew what was going on. They were leaving the group; they were going to leave her, Keith, Nick, AJ, Jane, and Kenny with nothing. "No one else has to get involved." Mike said which pulled Clementine out of her thoughts.

"That's everything we have." Clementine said with her gun still aimed at Mike.

Mike looked down at the two duffel bags of supplies before he looked back up to Clementine. "Listen, we just got to get away from that guy, Clem. Okay?" Mike said.

"Who? Kenny?" Clementine asked. She noticed that Arvo gave a nasty glare for the mentioning of the violent older man.

"Clem, dammit, just… we don't have time for this." Mike said hastily.

"Just… just be quiet, Clem, please." Bonnie said.

"You don't understand. If you take all of that stuff, we won't make it. Keith, AJ and I will die." Clementine said.

"I know. Clem, I didn't want to do this, but Kenny hasn't given us a choice." Mike said. He looked over to Bonnie and Arvo before he placed the bag of supplies on the ground. "Alright, Clem…" Mike said as he slowly walked towards the girl. "I'm going to walk up to you nice and slow, and you're gonna give me the gun, okay?" Arvo took aim at the girl, but it wasn't necessary.

Mike knew Clementine's weakness. He knew that she would never shoot him because of everything that they had went through. It was still a weakness that she struggled with. She could never shoot and kill a friend, not since what happened to Lee.

"It's not too late. Just stop what you're doing." Clementine said.

"I can't do that Clem." Mike said as he got closer. "I'm sorry. We'll talk about this okay?"

Arvo spat some blood and spoke in his native language. It sounded as though he had insulted Kenny.

Clementine looked over to Bonnie. The woman didn't like the situation either, but she didn't want to change her mind. "I'm sorry, Clem."

"Just give me the gun, Clem." Mike said. He was now very close to her with his arm stretched out ready to accept the gun. Clementine looked down sadly before she turned the gun around and offered the handle to Mike. "There we go." Mike said. The gun fumbled out of both of their hands, but Mike was able to catch it on the way down. "Good." Mike said to the defeated eleven year old. She felt guilty for letting the man have her gun. He was about to speak up again until they could hear the door open.

"Hey, what's going on?" Keith asked from the door.

Suddenly, a shot rang out. Clementine cried out in pain as she fell to the ground. She had been shot! "CLEM, NOOO!" Keith exclaimed.

The boy then heard an angry exclamation that came from Arvo as he shot at Keith. Keith plunged backwards to avoid the shot which he successfully did. He huffed while he was inside the half-built house, but he got back up and ran back outside to see Clementine on the ground. She was whimpering and shaking.

Keith drew his gun and aimed at where Arvo was, but the cowardly Russian teenager managed to slip away into the surrounding forests. Having no threat to deal with, Keith raced down the stairs and approached Clementine.

Bonnie was apologizing to Clementine for what happened as Mike tried to sway the woman to leave. "Oh my word… Clem! Clem." Bonnie cried.

"Bonnie, we got to go!" Mike said as he saw Keith approached the two with his handgun raised at them. He grabbed onto Bonnie's arm, but the woman immediately withdrew it from him.

"Don't you f****** touch me!" Bonnie hissed at the man. She looked back to Clementine who was starting to go into shock and exclaimed, "I… I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."

"Just go!" Keith exclaimed as he kept his handgun aimed at Bonnie and Mike.

"Keith, I…" Bonnie started to say but was interrupted by Keith.

"Just go!" Keith said. He glared at Bonnie and Mike as he continued, "You're not needed or wanted here."

Bonnie was visibly hurt by the boy's words. She was about to speak up until they both spotted Nick and Kenny heading out of the house with Jane following seconds later. "Oh my gosh! Clem? What the f*** did you do?" Kenny exclaimed as Bonnie and Mike fled for the safety of the woods.

Keith immediately holstered his weapon and got onto the ground. He cradled his girlfriend in his arms and said, "Don't worry. You're going to be okay. I promise." Keith said. Her eyes began to shut as the boy reluctantly placed her upper body on the ground. He had to get her warm and the only way that was going to happen was if he could get the blanket from his backpack.

"Clem? Keith?" Nick exclaimed as he ran up to the two. "Oh my gosh!" Nick began to huff and said, "I-Is she going to be alright? F***! What do we do?"

"Get the truck started. We need to get it warmed up for her, and we got to stop her bleeding." Keith instructed.

"Alright, I'm on it." Kenny said as he went to start up the truck.

"Here, I'll take her." Nick said as he bent down and picked up the unconscious girl. He and Keith wrapped the blanket around the girl as Nick held her in a carrying position. He ran for the truck with the girl in his arms as Keith grabbed the supplies that Bonnie, Mike, and Arvo were hoping to make off with.

"I'm going to go get AJ!" Jane exclaimed as she ran into the house to retrieve the sleeping infant and the bag of baby supplies.

Nick placed the girl in the truck still having the blanket wrapped around her as Kenny grumbled angrily. "I knew they were going to be nothing but trouble. F*** them! All of them!"

Keith entered the vehicle which was still trying to warm up, but it would take time. He placed his backpack on the ground and got his first-aid kit out. "Don't worry. I can handle this." Keith told Nick as the boy rummaged through the first-aid kit. The young man nodded and closed the door so that Keith could have the privacy he needed to treat Clementine's wound.

As Nick closed the door. He looked over to see several walkers heading for the truck. "You gotta be f****** kidding me!" Nick exclaimed.

Kenny and Nick drew their weapons and fired at the approaching herd. Jane ran down the stairs of the half-built house and approached the vehicle with a crying AJ in her arms. Inside the vehicle, Keith had finished applying disinfectant to Clementine's gunshot wound. He was very thankful that the shot went through cleanly and didn't leave any shards or shrapnel in her shoulder but that didn't mean she was out of the woods yet. After putting the cap on the disinfectant, Keith worked quickly to stitch up the wound. It helped that Clementine was unconscious and wasn't thrashing around in pain, but the stitching still proved difficult for the amount of light that Keith had to work with. Very carefully, Keith finished the last stitch to her shoulder, but then he had to turn her around to stitch up the exit wound. He proceeded to do so as the gunfire outside continued.

Jane entered the vehicle a couple seconds later and huffed. "F***." Jane muttered as she closed the door. "There's too many out there."

"F***! This isn't going to work!" Kenny spat from outside.

Finally, Keith finished stitching the exit wound, but before he could sigh in relief. He could hear Nick from outside. "Get the f*** out of here. I'll keep them busy. You gotta go, NOW!"

Keith turned around and opened the door so he could communicate to the adults. "I got Clem stitched up. Hurry, get inside."

"No, someone's going to have to stay to keep their attention. There's too many coming towards us to make a clean get away." Nick said as the two men kept firing their guns.

"Close the door, Keith. We're getting out of here!" Kenny exclaimed as he holstered his pistol.

"Keith…" Nick said solemnly. "Don't worry. I'm Batman, aren't I? I'll be okay."

"Yeah… yeah, okay." Keith said sadly. Before anything else was said, Nick slammed Keith's door shut. Nick shot at a couple more walkers that approached the front of the vehicle. The young man then whipped around and shot at an incoming walker that was approaching him from behind. Keith heard Kenny shift the vehicle into drive and they sped off into the night.

Keith couldn't believe what just happened. Nick stayed behind to save their lives. Keith sighed as he accepted that Nick was no longer with the group before he turned to Clementine and began to slowly dress the wound with gauze and medical wrap which was followed with redressing the girl. He had to be very careful, so that he wouldn't irritate the wound too much. Up front, the two adults, Jane and Kenny, argued about where they were going, but Keith didn't pay much attention to them. He was too busy trying to get his girlfriend out of shock. He carefully placed the young girl on his lap again to provide some form of heat along with the blanket that she was wrapped in. Eventually, the trucks heater turned on which helped the girl further.

**Hours Later**

It had been the longest road trip that Keith had ever endured. His own mother and father wouldn't have competed against Jane and Kenny when it came to their feuds. It didn't help much that the feuding duo had managed to keep AJ awake for hours. The poor little guy hadn't slept since last night because Jane and Kenny were constantly fighting over every little direction.

"On the left!" Jane exclaimed over AJ's cries.

Suddenly the vehicle jerked and tires screeched as Kenny recklessly tried to make the turn. He was driving way too fast considering the road condition and the fact that the vehicle was driving through a blizzard. Keith was forced into hitting the backseat door from Kenny's reckless driving. He groaned upon hitting it and said, "Slow down!"

"Shut up, both of you!" Kenny spat as AJ continued to cry.

Keith then heard a light moaning which came from the girl that he was holding. He looked down to see Clementine's eyes starting to flutter open along with her pained grunts. "Clem, you're… you're okay." Keith said. He was relieved to see that the girl had regained consciousness.

Jane looked back and was relieved by what she was seeing. "She's awake." Jane said with relief in her voice.

Clementine tried to sit upright, but she immediately hissed in pain. "Ouch!" Clementine exclaimed.

"Easy, let me help you." Keith said. He helped the girl get up completely and sat her next to him as she rubbed her sore shoulder. Meanwhile, Keith looked into his bag and eventually pulled out a container of over-the-counter pain relievers. "Sorry, I can't give you prescription." Keith said as he handed the pain relievers to Clementine. "We need you're A-game right now."

"Clem, are you alright?" Kenny asked.

"I-What happened?" Clementine asked. She was extremely confused on what was going on.

"That f******* Ruskie shot you." Kenny barked.

"After he shot you, he tried to shoot me next. I guess we shouldn't have trusted him after all." Keith said.

Clementine nodded as she recalled the events of last night. It was before she talked to Lee. She wished that dream was real, but at the same time, she didn't. She loved Lee, but she also loved Keith and Nick. She swallowed the two pills that she obtained from Keith and looked to the boy. "Wh-What happened to Nick? Where is he?" Keith looked down sadly as he remembered what Nick did to save them. "No…" Clementine said sadly.

"He didn't die, but he had to stay behind. There were too many walkers… and someone had to stay behind to distract them long enough for us to escape." Keith explained.

"Those sons of bitches!" Kenny spat. "I was expecting it from the Ruskie, but Mike?" Kenny's voice was laced in anger at the betrayal and the near death of the girl that he was trying to protect.

"I have to admit, I've been through a lot, but what I saw last night… that was low. I've never seen anything that low before." Keith said.

"I should have known they were workin on somethin." Kenny spat.

"I didn't think they would ever go that far." Jane admitted.

"They knew what they were doing too." Clementine said sadly. Kenny grumbled as he gripped the steering wheel tighter. "I told them that if they took the supplies and the truck that they would probably get me, AJ, and Keith killed. They didn't care though."

"Those f******!" Kenny bellowed. AJ's cries continued as Kenny seethed. The situation angered him more than anything ever had. "What kind of sick f**** would shoot a couple of kids?"

"The kind of f**** that this world creates." Jane said.

"I know one thing for sure." Keith said. Clementine looked to him as the boy tried to focus. His head was down and his eye was shut. He breathed in and out slowly to allow himself to focus. Whatever he was thinking, it made him reluctant to even speak it. He looked up and looked over to Clementine with a saddened look. "I have no choice. I have to kill Arvo the next time we see him. He attacked us out of hate and malice, and he nearly got you killed. I... I don't want to kill him, but… it's too dangerous to leave him alive."

"Well, get in line because I'm going to rip that f****** apart with my bare hands the next time we see them." Kenny spat.

"The ideal situation would be if we never see them again." Keith said.

"Okay, look, we'll discuss what to do with Bonnie, Mike, and Arvo later. Right now, we should talk about where we're going." Jane said as she tried to calm the whimpering infant in her arms.

"We're headed north." Kenny said. It was evident that he was very tired. The enthusiasm that he had back in the ski lodge was gone and was now replaced with a monotone mumbling.

"What? To find, 'Wellington'?" Jane asked.

"You sure talk a lotta of shit but do you got a better plan?" Kenny spat.

"We head south, back to Howe's." Jane said.

"Carver's camp? The f*** kind of plan is that?" Kenny inquired.

"It's called Plan B." Keith said. "We've come this far and lost so much; we have to try and find Wellington."

"Wellington's out there. We have to keep looking, Jane." Clementine said.

"Clem, you can't be falling for this." Jane said as she turned to the girl.

"She made up her mind, Jane." Kenny spat at the loner.

"Clem please. This is suicide." Jane said.

"Why don't you let her think for herself for once?" Kenny spat.

"Like you have room to talk." Keith said.

"ME?" Kenny inquired.

"You're always expecting her to act like Lee. You always want her to side with you. You expect her to do everything for you, just like Lee did." Keith said with a tang of anger in his voice. "I should know. After everything that has happened, you don't look to me see me as Keith Carver. You see my dad!"

"So what if I do?" Kenny spat. "You're hands aren't clean in all of this. I've seen the way you touch her. Hell, I've seen you kiss her before!"

"News flash! That's what couples do!" Keith exclaimed.

"Couples?" Kenny exclaimed. "Listen here, boy! You two aren't a couple! You're way too young to even know what that is!"

"Deal with it Kenny." Clementine said. "I love Keith and there is nothing you can say or do to change that."

"We'll see about that." Kenny grumbled.

"Guys, will you f****** focus?" Jane exclaimed. "Look, even if there is a someplace up here, it could take us weeks to find it. We could get back to Howe's in a day."

"Tell you what, we can turn around as soon as you pry this wheel from my cold, dead fingers." Kenny said. "How's that sound?"

"Whatever, I give up." Jane muttered. She sighed out of frustration before placing her feet on the dash of the vehicle.

"Get your feet off the dash." Kenny spat as he swatted at her feet. He couldn't deal with the loner since he had to focus on the road again. The weather conditions were challenging, even to a seasoned veteran in driving like Kenny.

Jane glared at the older man before she smirked and looked to Clementine and Keith. "Hey Clem, Keith, let's play a game. I spy with my little eye, an asshole. Your turn." Jane wore a victorious smirk as Kenny grumbled.

"Grow up." Kenny spat.

"Go to hell." Jane replied.

"I'll pull this f******* car over." Kenny threatened.

"Go ahead." Jane said.

"You're both acting like children." Clementine said.

"Even worse than children." Keith added.

"ME? I couldn't see the damn road." Kenny whined. He grumbled before he continued, "I'm done playing games with you, Jane?"

"Is now really the best time for this?" Keith asked.

"Yeah, it is." Kenny said.

"F*** you, asshole. You don't know a damn thing about me." Jane said.

"Oh, I know exactly what you are." Kenny said. "Nothing. Nobody cares about you, and you don't care about nobody but yourself. That makes you nothing."

"What is it with you?" Jane inquired. "It's your family, right?"

"Don't." Kenny spat. His eyes glared with an intensity that Clementine hadn't seen before. She had seen him mad before, but this wasn't just pure rage and anger. There was also hurt.

"It is, isn't it?" Jane asked.

"I'm warning you, you little shit." Kenny spat.

"You're just another Type-A asshole trying to save a bunch of dead people!" Jane spat.

"Will you both just calm down!" Clementine exclaimed.

"Seriously! This is getting out of hand!" Keith added.

"Shut up back there!" Kenny spat at the two children.

"Don't talk to them like that, asshole!" Jane spat at the older man.

"You listen to me." Kenny spat as he took his eyes off the road. Clementine and Keith watched on in horror as they blindly drove through the blizzard. "You mouth off about my family and I will f****** end you."

"For f**** sake, I'm so sick of this wounded warrior crap! Just pull over; I can't take this!" Jane exclaimed.

"What, running away again? What a f****** shocker!" Kenny exclaimed with sarcasm lacing his voice. He looked back to the road which relieved Clementine's and Keith's fears. "In the end, still only care about yourself, right?"

"And where were you when Sarita died, Kenny?" Jane inquired. Kenny was surprised when he heard the loner mention his late girlfriend. He looked to the road with sadness in his features as Jane continued, "Huh? Where were you?"

Kenny looked over to Jane again and said, "I was there but I couldn't… damn you, I loved that woman!"

"Who could love you?" Jane inquired. "Look at you! You can't raise this kid! You can't raise Clementine or Keith! They're scared to death of you!"

"Jane, Kenny loved Sarita!" Clementine exclaimed.

"Of course he did." Jane replied. "He loves having anyone around that does what he says. Keith, you said the very same thing just moments ago on how Kenny controls Clementine." Keith looked down sadly; he didn't expect Jane to use his own words from earlier. Jane looked back at Kenny with a glare and continued, "That's why you don't like Keith. It's because he's giving Clementine the chance to talk and have her make her own decisions rather than having to agree with every little damn thing you say. And that's also why you love this kid so much; it can't talk back yet."

"F*** you." Kenny spat.

"You know the thing about people like you Kenny? You're just a bomb waiting to go off. Everyone talks behind your back because they're afraid of you." Jane explained as Clementine and Keith watched on. There was nothing they could do to stop the loner and the older man. They weren't even sure if pretending to cry would stop the two. They both exchanged unsure glances at each other as Jane continued to aggravate Kenny.

"Mike, Bonnie, Sarita!" Jane said. She named off the people who feared Kenny.

"You f****** liar! That ain't true!" Kenny spat.

"Everyone around you knows that sooner or later they're gonna end up dead. Sarita knew it, I know it, Keith knows it, and so does Clementine!" Jane exclaimed.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO TALK ABOUT MY FAMILY!" Kenny exclaimed.

"F*** YOU!" Jane spat.

"YOU F****** PIECE OF SHIT!" Kenny exclaimed.

"GO TO HELL YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Jane snapped.

"GUYS, THE ROAD! WATCH OUT!" Clementine and Keith shouted simultaneously.

Kenny immediately looked up and was surprised to see that the road up ahead was covered in abandoned vehicles. "SHIT!" Kenny exclaimed as he turned the wheel and slammed on the breaks. Jane grabbed onto the handle that was mounted in the vehicle as the truck slid in circles. Meanwhile, Clementine fell forward but was caught by Keith who held onto the handle in the backseat. Finally, the truck came to a stop which allowed everyone inside to regain their balance.

"You okay?" Kenny asked Jane as Keith helped Clementine to get back in her seat.

"I'm fine." Jane muttered.

"You alright?" Keith asked his girlfriend.

"Yeah, thanks." Clementine said with a slight blush in her features. Keith reflected her blush as he scratched the back of his head.

"How's AJ?" Kenny asked.

"He's fine." Jane said.

"You sure?" Kenny asked.

"Yes." Jane said.

"Clem, Keith, you both alright back there?" Kenny asked.

"Yeah, we're okay." Clementine said as she placed her hand on the gunshot wound that she received last night. Its achiness had returned but only momentarily.

"Kenny, I'm-" Jane said but was interrupted by Kenny.

"Wait, hold on." Kenny said as he looked out to the abandoned vehicles on the road.

"Go 'round." Jane suggested.

"One of 'em might have diesel." Kenny remarked.

"We shouldn't stop here." Jane said.

"We're runin on fumes. Got no choice." Kenny said. He started to get out of the truck as he explained, "When I holler it's okay, drive up close. Anything happens, I'll try to meet you there." He gestured to the sign that read that the rest stop was a mile away. "Alright?"

"Kenny…" Clementine said but stopped herself when the older man closed the door. She looked down sadly momentarily before she got up from her seat and got into the driver's seat of the vehicle.

"That f****** asshole." Jane spat. "F***. I can't do this anymore. I'm serious, Clem."

"You're both losing it." Clementine said.

"And you're driving me and Clem insane." Keith said.

"Hey, I tried!" Jane protested.

"No you didn't. All you've been doing is provoking him." Keith said.

"You know what? Whatever." Jane muttered. She looked down to see if Kenny was right about the truck being low on diesel, but then her eyes widened when she noticed that Kenny left the keys in the ignition. "Clem, we can leave right now."

"Are you serious? What about AJ?" Clementine asked.

"Look, I know that you're close to him but… Kenny would never let him go." Jane said. "This is our chance, Clem."

"Look, I don't get along with Kenny either, but I know this isn't right." Keith said.

"Clem, wouldn't you ever want to know what it's like living your own life?" Jane asked. Suddenly, gunshots were heard in the distance. The three looked to the direction of the source of the gunshots. It was coming from the huge cluster of vehicles that Kenny went into.

Their eyes widened upon seeing a human-like figure limp out from behind one of the cars.

"Is that Kenny?" Keith asked. "Is he hurt?"

"No, it's a walker." Clementine said as she looked over to see another figure limping towards the vehicle. "It-It's snowing. Why are they moving?"

"They must not be cold enough yet. F***!" Jane said. The loner lean towards the driver's seat and started up the vehicle. She then placed the vehicle in drive and exclaimed, "Get us out of here!"

"I don't know how to drive!" Clementine exclaimed.

"See that pedal on the floor?" Jane asked as she gestured to the accelerator. "STEP ON IT!"

Clementine pushed her foot on the accelerator which made the vehicle stay in place at first but then it sped off while hitting a couple of walkers in the process. They sped through the huge cluster of cars. Somehow Clementine managed to avoid hitting another vehicle, but as they drove through, Jane noticed a walker up ahead.

"Shit." Jane muttered as they hit the walker which managed to bust through the windshield. Clementine turned the wheel back and forth as the walker tried to grab at them. The truck was now out of control. Tires screeched loudly as it went in circles. Finally, it came to stop with the sound of a loud pained yell from the backseat and a shattering sound.

With the vehicle now stopped, Jane exited the vehicle with AJ. The walker inside was still growling and groaning. Clementine tried to exit the vehicle, but her door wouldn't budge. "F*** get out of there!" Jane exclaimed.

"Keith!" Clementine exclaimed hoping that the boy would help her with the walker, but he didn't even respond. "Keith?" Clementine tried to look to the backseat, but she couldn't see much from where she sat. Clementine pulled out her handgun and aimed at the walker that had managed to break through the windshield. She shot the creature which allowed her to momentarily catch her breath. She could now see what was wrong with Keith. She got up and looked to the backseat where she was met with a horrible sight. Keith laid against the backseat door with his head against a cracked window. "Keith? Keith, are you alright?" Clementine asked. However, the boy was unresponsive.

"Oh shit!" Jane exclaimed. She appeared to backing away before she turned to the girl in the truck. "Shit there are more of them. Move!"

"We can't just leave Keith!" Clementine protested but it was too late. Jane left the area without a care for the young boy. "Jane, wait!"

Clementine started to breathe heavily. She was now stuck with a difficult decision. Leave with Keith which would get them both killed since she wasn't strong enough to carry him or leave him. She shook her head at the choices she had to make. She went to the backseat and tried to shake the boy awake. "Come on, you got to get up." Clementine said as tears started to form in her eyes. "Come on, wake up. Wake up!" She then heard a growl from outside. The walkers were slowly getting closer.

"Come on, come on." Clementine whimpered. She closed her eyes tightly hoping that she could think of something. Suddenly, Lee's words echoed in her mind. _You're strong Clem. You can do anything… You're going to see some bad things happen to good people, but you'll be okay._ She whimpered as she looked to the boy one last time. "I-I love you. I love you." Clementine hugged the boy quickly and kissed him on the lips before she tearfully climbed out of the truck.

…**To be continued.**

**A/N: Ah… another cliffhanger and at the worst possible timing too. You're welcome. And this is the second to last chapter of SoT before Season 3 comes out.**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: This chapter is a tad bit long. It was longer than I expected. Oh well… screw consistency. Also, thank you AquaDestinysEmbrace, Magixben1124, and Bubbles2k100 for giving me your opinion on a certain topic in this chapter and your support for this Fic.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_**. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Clementine finally managed to climb out of the truck. She slammed the door shut to prevent the walkers from eating her unresponsive boyfriend. She then looked around for Jane who was carrying AJ through the blizzard; however, the loner and infant were nowhere to be seen. "Jane!" Clementine cried out. Just as Clementine feared… there was no response.

Suddenly, Clementine was grabbed by her ankle and forced to the ground. She cried out when she hit the ground as the walker that grabbed her tried to bite her. She pulled out her gun again and shot the creature in the skull.

She got back up and looked around for what was left of her group. She shivered at each step as she tried to head to the rest stop. She would at least meet up with Kenny there, and she would have the chance to get out of the ferocious blizzard.

She walked through the frigid temperatures while weaving away from the extremely slow walkers. They weren't completely frozen, but their typical limping speed was hindered severely. There was no possible way to get bitten by the nearly frozen walkers. However, the severe temperature and weather also hindered Clementine. The blizzard made it very difficult for her to see and she had managed to trip a couple of times. Nonetheless, she kept going. She wasn't going to allow the blizzard to claim her life. Not after all of her sacrifices.

Clementine shivered as she trudged forward until finally she found it. It was the rest stop that Kenny wanted everyone to meet up at. She only had to walk a few more feet past a couple of picnic tables and a small playground to enter some form of shelter. She took her last few steps toward the door and finally entered the rest stop.

Clementine shivered as she went inside. The door to the rest stop closed with a shattering like sound. "You alright?" Clementine heard. She looked up to see Kenny. "Where is the kid? Where's AJ?" Kenny asked.

"I-I don't know." Clementine admitted.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Kenny exclaimed.

"I-I lost Keith…" Clementine said sadly. She started to whimper again until Kenny grumbled in annoyance.

"Clem, when are you going to grow up? We have to focus on AJ!" Kenny snapped. "Now is not the time for you to act like a damn kid!"

"I am a kid, Kenny!" Clementine exclaimed. "I know that you seem to forget that easily, but I am a kid, okay? Is that was you want to hear from me?"

"What? No, look Clem, I'm sorry. I'm just stressed out. We need to find that kid." Kenny said. "Who had AJ last?"

"He was with Jane." Clementine replied.

"You left him with HER?" Kenny inquired. "JANE!" Kenny walked away and went towards the back door to go outside to search of the loner. "JANE!" Kenny exclaimed as he went out into the middle of the blizzard.

Clementine tearfully looked to the door she had just used to enter. She was still heartbroken about what happened to Keith. However, her thoughts quickly ended when she saw a figure approach the rest stop. It couldn't be a walker; it was too fast. "K-Kenny!" Clementine yelled for the older man.

"Oh thank goodness!" Kenny exclaimed as he ran back inside. The figure got closer and it was revealed to be Jane. She appeared to have injured her right arm since she was holding it with her left hand. "Jane you okay?" Kenny asked as he opened the door for the loner. "Where's the kid? Jane, where is he?"

Jane's reply came in the form of her lowering her head. Clementine and Kenny looked on in shock and sadness. "Wh-What happened?" Clementine asked.

"He's-" Jane said sadly, but she cut herself off.

"What are you saying?" Kenny asked. Realization came to Kenny which made him panic. "No!" Kenny cried. "NO!" Kenny, suddenly, ran out of the rest stop leaving Clementine with Jane.

"No, not again… not again…" Clementine said as she remembered what happened to Christa newborn.

Jane released the grip on her arm and looked out the window. She couldn't see Kenny's retreating form anymore, so she squatted down to Clementine's height and placed her hands on the child's shoulders. "Clem, look at me." The child tearfully obliged as Jane continued, "No matter what happens, just stay out of it." Jane looked out to the window again before she asked, "Okay?"

"I don't understand. What are you doing?" Clementine asked.

Jane looked out the window once again and then turned to the child. "You have to trust me. You're gonna see what he really is."

Clementine wasn't sure what was going on, but then, she slowly turned to see Kenny approach the rest stop. He was completely different. She saw him with a ferocious scowl and he took angry stomps towards the rest stop. Clementine had only seen this anger once. It was the same angry glare and stomping that Carver had used on Reggie.

Jane got up and started to back away leaving Clementine in the middle of the two adults. "Kenny, just calm down." Clementine said in hopes of calming the older man.

"Get the f*** out of my way." Kenny spat as he pushed her aside and stomped towards Jane.

"Kenny…" Clementine said in a final attempt to try and stop him, but it was no use.

"How could you kill a F****** CHILD!" Kenny snapped as he swung at Jane.

Jane ducked to avoid the punch that came her way and pushed Kenny away. She got away from the older man by running to the other side of the rest stop as she explained, "I didn't mean to kill him; IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, KENNY!"

"BULLSHIT!" Kenny bellowed. Both were now in a fighting stance.

Jane noticed Kenny slowly and angrily approaching her. His face was red with anger, his knuckles were clenched tightly. Jane glared at the older man and said, "I'm not going to back down from you, Kenny."

"SHUT UP!" Kenny bellowed as he continued his approach.

"I'm warning you." Jane said as she drew her knife.

"Just stop!" Clementine exclaimed as she got between the two. "We're all that's left. There were other people who tried to make it, but things just didn't work out. We can't just turn on each other, not after everything that's happened."

"I'm not letting this crazy f*** anywhere near me, Clem." Jane spat.

"I don't need permission." Kenny replied. He was no longer advancing towards Jane; instead, he was now trying to find a way around her defenses.

They both continued to size each other up as Clementine watched on in horror. Finally, Kenny appeared to be backing down. He wasn't in his aggressive stance from earlier. Jane placed the knife back in its holster as she muttered, "Don't come anywhere near me, you son of a bitch." She relaxed her stance which prove to be a bad move. Kenny quickly ran towards the loner and pinned her against the shattered window of the rest stop.

"Kenny!" Clementine exclaimed in horror.

"Get off!" Jane shouted as she started to gouge the man's eyes. He yelled in pain before he was able to slip out of the loner's grip. Kenny's hat fell to the ground as a result of the struggle. However, Kenny now had the woman's arms pinned down and he was now choking her.

"STOP! PLEASE!" Clementine exclaimed, but neither of the adults listened to her. Clementine ran up to Kenny and yanked his arm in an attempt to stop the older man. Her attempt worked but not because of her strength. Kenny turned to the girl with a surprised look which was enough of a distraction for Jane to punch the older man off of her.

Kenny landed on the ground with a pained groan, but Jane wasn't finished. She got on top of the older man and began to punch him repeatedly. "JANE!" Clementine exclaimed. She went to the loner and was capable of pulling her off of Kenny. Clementine and Jane fell backwards which gave Kenny the chance to attack the loner again. He got up and went for the woman, but she slashed at him with her knife. The knife created a cut which was where the man's stomach was. He yelled out in pain as Clementine gasped. "Oh my word!" Kenny's blood started to drench the floor, but Kenny was still able to stand. However, the older man was starting to back away.

Jane got up and chased the older man outside. "This is all your f****** fault!" Jane bellowed.

Clementine quickly followed the two and saw them outside. The blizzard had turned to a light snow which improved the visibility outside. Kenny and Jane were back to sizing each other up; however, Kenny was starting to back away. "You piece of shit." Kenny sputtered as Jane approached him with her knife drawn.

"Just go." Jane said.

"I ain't going nowhere." Kenny said. Despite his wound, he was still as stubborn as ever.

Clementine got between the two to prevent any further violence and said, "Please, just stop! Is this really what you want?"

"Move, Clem." Kenny said as he tossed the girl aside. Clementine landed on the snow as Jane took another swing with her knife. Kenny avoided the slash and grabbed the loner. He threw her into a nearby wooden sign. The sign busted to pieces with both fighters trying to recover. "I will f****** kill you." Kenny spat as he tried to get back up. However, his older body and his wound made it difficult to do so.

Clementine got up and ran to the two as Jane got the upper hand. She jammed her fingers in Kenny's eyes again as the older man screamed out in pain. "How's that feel, huh?" Jane asked.

"It's over!" Clementine exclaimed. However, her cries were in vain as the two continued their struggle against each other. "LISTEN TO ME!"

"Get her off!" Kenny shouted.

Clementine obliged and hoped that the struggle between the two would end; however, when she pulled Jane off of Kenny, the older man grabbed Jane's knife and stabbed her with it. Jane fell back and yelled in pain which resulted in Clementine falling and landing on her sore shoulder. Her body ached in pain and her vision became slightly blurry from landing on the sensitive wound. Clementine groaned as she tried to get up. "F****** baby killer." Kenny hissed at Jane.

Clementine looked over as Jane tried to back away from Kenny. However, the older man got on top of the loner and tried to kill her with her own knife. Despite the pain in her leg, Jane held the older man's arms to keep the knife from being plunged into her. "I'll f****** kill you." Kenny spat. Jane struggled to keep the knife away. In fact, the knife was getting closer every couple of seconds. The two groaned and growled at each other as the struggle reached its climax.

"I… I knew you would…" Jane muttered.

Clementine was finally able to get herself to sit up despite the thriving pain in her shoulder. As she got up, her hand brushed over her gun. She looked to the fire arm and picked it up. This was her last chance to put a stop to the fight. She aimed the gun at Kenny and called out, "Please, Kenny!" However, the older man wouldn't listen. With tears now in her eyes, Clementine pressed her finger against the trigger and shot Kenny in the chest.

Kenny fell back from the shot and he landed on the ground. Jane huffed as she sat up. She looked to the older man who was now huffing and spitting out blood. Clementine got up and shakily walked towards Kenny. Clementine passed the loner as Jane tried to recollect herself from the intense fight.

Clementine approached Kenny and kneeled down to look over the older man. He was still breathing but it was evident that he wouldn't be for long. Clementine looked down sadly until she heard Kenny, "Clem…" She looked to the older man as he continued, "You made the right choice. I let you down…" Kenny coughed out some more blood.

"Why did you make me do this?" Clementine cried.

"I-I'm so sorry darling. I really am." Kenny said. He huffed heavily as he tried to deal with the pain that his body was enduring and said, "Lee deserved better. I wasn't a true friend to him… I should have looked after you, but instead… you had to look after me. You have to forgive me. Please darlin."

"I-I do. I forgive you." Clementine said as she gripped the older man's hand. Kenny smiled in response before he spat out more blood.

"We almost made it, Clem." Kenny said. "We were so close, weren't we?" Clementine looked down sadly as Kenny continued, "I thought I wanted this… asked for it… so many times… Now that it's happening… I'm scared.

"You don't have to be." Clementine said tearfully. "I'll be right here, right to the end." She gripped his hand tighter as Kenny looked to Clementine with tears in his eyes.

"Thank you… thank you…" Kenny huffed. A couple of seconds later, Kenny's breathing stopped, his hand became cold, and his face started to become pale. Clementine tearfully released her grip from the older man's hand. She knew that he was dead.

Suddenly, Jane and Clementine heard footsteps approaching them from behind. Jane got up ready to attack, but stopped herself when she faced the person approaching them. "Keith…?" Jane said as she looked to the boy.

Clementine turned to see the boy with AJ in his arms. He looked to his girlfriend with confusion and concern. Clementine got up and ran to her boyfriend. She cried as she held onto him tightly. "Sh… it's okay. It's alright." Keith said as he tried to comfort the girl.

"No, it's not." Clementine cried. She backed away to look at Keith and AJ. "AJ, he's alright?"

"Yeah, here." Keith said as he handed the infant to Clementine. "I think he missed you."

Clementine held onto the baby and hugged the infant. Her tears cascaded down her rosy cheeks as she huffed. "I-I thought he was dead. I thought you were dead." Clementine said as she looked back up to Keith.

"I'm not going to lie. I'm very dizzy right now. I think I got a concussion when the truck hit that snowbank." Keith explained. "As for AJ, I found him in a car a little ways from here."

"W-What?" Clementine asked. "But… Jane." Clementine expression completely changed from being overjoyed to see AJ and Keith being alive to pure anger at the loner. The two turned to Jane with each having a glare towards the woman.

"I understand if you're upset…" Jane said. "He was never in any danger. I was… going to try to talk to you into coming with me. I just thought if you saw Kenny like that… you'd know we'd have to leave him."

"Are you out of your mind?" Keith exclaimed. "Look, I didn't agree with Kenny much, but… my gosh, YOU killed him! And you put AJ in danger… just to prove a point!"

"I didn't think that Kenny would go that far. I'm sorry." Jane said sadly.

"Forget this." Keith said. He then turned to Clementine and said, "Clem, I don't want her coming with us. She's too dangerous."

"No, Clem, please. I'm sorry. I had to show you what Kenny was really like." Jane said in a pleading tone.

Clementine huffed and looked to Jane with anger in her features. "I'm not going anywhere with you." Clementine said. Jane looked to Clementine with shock as the eleven year old turned around and started to walk away. Keith glared at Jane before he followed Clementine.

The snow crunched under Clementine's feet as Jane called out, "Clem… please. I did this for you." Keith joined alongside Clementine as the loner continued, "I can't do this alone… okay? Is that what you want to hear?" Clementine and Keith ignored Jane as they continued to walk through the snow covered road. "Clem…?"

Eventually, the two had walked far enough to where they couldn't hear Jane anymore. Clementine started to cry again. She mourned for the death her friend, Kenny, and the fact that she had to be the one to shoot him. He may not have been the guardian that she was hoping he could be, but she still cared about him. Keith placed his arm around her shoulders and kissed the side of her head. "I… I killed Kenny. I shot him." Clementine sobbed. Her tears stung her already puffy eyes and rosy cheeks.

"You didn't kill Kenny. You may have pulled the trigger, but… Kenny died because of Jane." Keith said comfortingly. However, Keith's words didn't have their usual affect. Instead, the boy had to do something else. His body came to a halt which made the girl stop. She looked to him before he kissed her lips. Once again, the kiss took their breaths away. It felt like the world around them had stopped, and they were in their own world. The cold and snow were no longer existent until their lips separated.

A few seconds went by until Clementine asked, "What are we going to do now?" Her voice was no longer cracking even though a couple of tears had managed to fall down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them off with her free arm and waited for the boy to answer.

"We're going north to find Wellington… for Rebecca… and for Kenny." Keith said. Clementine nodded in response. The two then pressed forward, despite the cold and the fact that they were the only ones to survive. It was going to be a longer trek than they had previously thought, but they would make it… for each other and for the baby boy that depended on them to survive…

**Nine Days Later**

Clementine looked up a snow-covered hill and waited for Keith and AJ to catch up. The wind's howl echoed as she felt a chill run down her spine. She soon heard the crunching of snow and turned around to see the Keith and AJ slowly approaching her. "You want me to hold him?" Clementine asked.

"Nah, he's not that heavy yet." Keith said. "Come on, I'll race you to the top." Keith said as he darted past Clementine.

"Hey!" Clementine exclaimed.

As he neared the top of the hill, Keith looked back to see Clementine try her best to catch up with him, but it proved to be difficult with her sore shoulder and the fact that the boy got a head start. "Come on, Alvie. We can't let her beat us this time." Keith chuckled to the baby in his arms. Keith finally reached the top first, but his expression changed from laughter and youthful bliss to seriousness and disbelief. He looked down from the hill and saw a huge wall something that would dwarf Howe's wall. Additionally, there was a large fume of smoke on the right side of the wall and a large crane on the left.

"You cheated." Clementine said as she reached the top. However, her attitude quickly reflected Keith's.

"I don't believe it. Wellington really does exist." Keith said. "I mean, that's got to be it. There's no way bandits could have come up with something like this."

"We should go check it out." Clementine said.

"Yeah…" Keith said as he started to walk down the hill. Clementine followed him as the two daydreamed about what would be inside the large wall.

A gunshot stopped their advances and brought both back to the real world. AJ started to cry from the surprise of the shot. In response, Keith tried to soothe the infant by rocking him back and forth. "It's okay. You're alright, buddy." Keith said.

"He didn't get shot, did he?" Clementine asked worriedly.

"No, the shot just scared him." Keith replied.

"That's far enough!" The two children heard from a speaker. It came from the direction of the wall and it sounded like a woman's voice.

"Maybe coming here was a bad idea." Keith said.

"Drop your weapons!" The woman on the speaker demanded.

Clementine looked to Keith for what he wanted to do. The boy nodded his head in response indicating that they needed to get rid of their weapons. Clementine took her gun out of its holster and tossed it aside as Keith got rid of his knife and handgun. They then waited for further instructions.

"Approach the gate!" The speaker sounded.

Clementine and Keith looked to each other before they started to make their way to the huge gate. It was intimidating for both children. Neither one could help but look side-to-side.

As they got closer as a woman appeared at the opening of the gate which was several feet off the ground. "…Just a couple of… people at the front gate. They won't be any trouble." Her voice had a tang of sadness in it. She was speaking into a radio as both Clementine and Keith stood at the front of the gate. They waited for the woman to address them. She put down the radio down and looked to the two children below her. "Hi, I'm Edith." The woman said to the two children.

"I'm Keith." Keith introduced himself. He gestured to the girl next to him and said, "This is my girlfriend, Clementine."

"Hello." Edith said. "You two look a bit too young to be dating."

"You aren't the first one tell us that." Clementine said.

Edith turned her attention to the baby in Keith's arms and said, "That's a handsome boy you got there. What's his name?"

"Alvin Junior. He takes after his dad." Keith said.

"Is there someone in there named Christa?" Clementine asked.

"I don't think so dear." Edith replied.

Clementine looked down sadly and sighed. She had tried to keep her spirits up and find her friend alive, but it seemed that Christa didn't survive her encounter with the bandits. Keith placed a supportive hand on the girl's shoulder and said to Edith, "By any chance, are you guys accepting new members? It's been a bit of a trek. We lost a lot of people and… we just want to find somewhere to call home."

"Well… I'm afraid that this is the part where I give you the bad news." Edith said. She went inside the gate and returned with a duffel bag. She dropped the bag in front of the two children and said, "There's plenty of supplies in there to help you two keep going for a little while. It has food, water, some medicine, a first-aid kit, and some other necessities."

Keith huffed and he looked down. "I can't believe it…" He had one true fear about Wellington and that fear was realized. He looked back up to Edith and said, "You won't let us in… because there's no room left."

"That's right." Edith said sadly. "I'm sorry. I wish there was room, but there's just not enough to go around if we keep bringing people in." Keith and Clementine looked to each other. Both were saddened. They wanted to make this work; they wanted a normal life. "I really hate to do this, especially to a couple of children with a baby. I don't want to force you back out there, but if you come in, some people in the community will have to leave."

Keith sighed and asked, "You want to go for Plan B? It's not the ideal situation, but we can make it work."

Clementine smiled to the boy and nodded her head. Keith smiled back before he walked up to the bag of supplies. He picked up the bag with his free arm and walked back over to his girlfriend. He turned to Edith and said, "We'll be fine. We've made it this far."

"I'm sorry. I wish I could have done more for you." Edith said.

"There is actually something you can do for us." Keith said.

"Okay, what is it?" Edith asked.

"We got separated from our friend, Nick Randall. He's older than me and Clem. Tell him that we went back to Howe's Hardware. He'll know where it's at." Keith explained.

"Okay, I can do that. Be careful out there." Edith said.

"Always." The two children replied simultaneously. Edith smiled to the two before she went back inside the gate and disappeared from sight.

"Here, I'll take AJ." Clementine as she took the infant from Keith's grasp. The two then proceeded to walk back the long trek from which they came. Howe's would stir bad memories for both children, but it was the only place that was safe enough for them and the baby.

**Eighteen Days Later**

Clementine and Keith approached the abandoned hardware store that they had been searching for since Wellington was no longer an option. They walked across the parking lot while weaving around several dead walkers. They approached the same garage door that they used to escape from Howe's. Keith and Clementine looked to each other before both children mustered up the courage to go inside. They were both surprised to see that the hardware store was very much abandoned and had taken quite a hit. Clementine looked over the interior of the building just in case there were any stragglers or bandits inside. Meanwhile, Keith walked up to his father's body. He looked over his father with his one good eye as Clementine came up to him and placed a supportive hand on his shoulder.

"We should bury him… him and Alvin." Keith said sadly.

"Yeah." Clementine said. "We should search out the place, first. We need to find formula for AJ."

"Yeah… you're right. Let's go." Keith said as he moved on. Clementine followed him as he continued, "I had to extend a few favors while I was here, but I did managed to get a nursery for AJ. Vince and Wyatt did most of the work."

"Wait. There's a nursery here?" Clementine asked as she tried to keep up with her boyfriend.

"Yeah, I did it under my dad's nose." Keith said as he walked down a hallway but he stopped when he reached a storage closet. He opened the door to reveal a room which had a crib, a high chair, a changing table, a rocking chair, and a few toys scattered about. "It's a good thing that the walkers never got inside this room." Keith said.

"Yeah… this is really amazing." Clementine remarked. Suddenly, AJ started to cry which got the children's attention. "Uh oh… he's getting fussy. I think he's overdue for a bottle. I'll feed him if you can check out what's left of this place."

"Yeah, I'm on it." Keith said and he left the nursery as Clementine went inside to prepare a bottle for AJ.

**15 Minutes Later**

Keith was now on the roof looking over the parking lot. He had just checked the green house and was satisfied to see that there was no damage to it. Clementine approached him and said, "Hey, AJ's asleep in the nursery. How's everything look?"

"They're looking good. There's plenty of food and medicine here, and with the green house still functioning, we should be good for a long time." Keith explained.

"Just… stay behind me." The two children heard. They walked over to the ledge and saw what appeared to be a family approaching the hardware store. They watched the family of three walk through the parking lot with the father taking the lead in front of the child and mother.

"Come on." Keith said. The two walked down to the ground level of the hardware store to meet the family.

Keith and Clementine approached the family from behind a metal cage which acted as a barrier. "This your place?" The father of the family asked.

"Yeah, it is." Keith replied.

"Are you accepting new people, by any chance?" The father asked.

"We need help." The woman added.

"My boy, he… he ain't doing so good." The man said. The two children looked to each other worriedly in response. They were afraid that the boy was bit. The man must have noticed their worry and he continued, "Look, don't worry, he ain't… he ain't bit; just hungry. We've been walking around for weeks. Ran out of food a couple days back." The man approached the fence to get a better look at the two children that he was talking to and was surprised to see that Keith had bandages over his left eye.

"Boy, are you okay?" The man asked. "What happened to your eye? Is it infected? My wife, Patricia, could take a look at it for you."

Keith smiled and said, "I appreciate your concern, but this was something I got a few weeks ago. My dad, William Carver, owned this place. The last thing he ever did to me was beat me till I was half dead. I lost my eye from that beating."

The man was surprised by the tale and was also saddened. "You two… went up north?" The man asked.

"Yeah…" Clementine said sadly.

"Us too." The man scoffed. He looked around the entrance and said, "This place needs a lot of work. We could help you."

"I say we should let them in." Keith whispered to Clementine. "There's no way, we're going to be able to bury Alvin and my dad. And we need as much help as we can get."

"Please." The woman, Patricia, said as she approached the gate. "We won't make it through another night out here."

"Look, I know that you don't know us." The man said. "And I know a lotta people out here say a lotta things. But I'm asking you… as a father, please don't turn as away."

Keith and Clementine looked to the boy that accompanied the man and woman. They were both surprised to see that he was about their age. Keith looked to Clementine and waited for her decision. In response, Clementine looked to the family and said, "There's a garage door on the other side of the building. You can enter through there."

"Thank you." Patricia replied as she and her husband visibly relaxed. She escorted her son toward the mentioned entrance as the man nodded to the two children appreciatively.

Clementine and Keith walked away from the barrier and toward the loading dock. "We made the right decision." Keith said.

"Yeah, we did." Clementine said as she grabbed her boyfriend's hand. The two continued to walk to the garage door with their hand's locked together until they were met by the family.

"Quite a mess." The man said.

"You can say that again." Keith said.

The man turned to the children and said, "I'm Randy. Thanks for trusting us enough to let us in. I promise that you won't regret it."

"We'll see." Keith said. "I've been with people in the past who abused my trust and nearly got me killed. But, we'll give you a chance. I'm Keith."

"I'm Clementine." Clementine introduced herself to the new people

Patricia approached Clementine and said, "Thank you for trusting us." She crouched down to the child's height and hugged the girl.

Clementine was surprised by the hug but at the same time was comforted by it. The hug reminded her of her own mother's hug. Clementine returned the hug. Eventually, the two separated and Patricia got back up. Patricia looked to Clementine with a thankful stare before she walked over to join her husband.

"Cool hat." The boy finally spoke. He looked to Clementine with a smile in his features.

"Thanks." Clementine said.

"Your mom and dad said that you were hungry. I can probably cook something up real quick." Keith said.

"I… I would really appreciate that. Thank you." The boy replied. Keith gestured for the boy to follow him and the two walked off towards the supply rations.

Clementine smiled at the two boys as they walked off towards the rations until she heard footsteps behind her. There were only three people who approached the gate. Clementine turned around immediately, but she relaxed upon seeing a girl who appeared to be around ten years old in front of her. The girl looked to Clementine with wide brown eyes as she held onto a rabbit plush toy; it was covered in dry blood. However, the girl had managed to keep her yellow hooded sweatshirt with a green long-sleeve shirt underneath, blue jeans, and black shoes rather clean.

"Um… hi there." Clementine said as she reached out to the girl. In response, the girl shuttered and she started to backpedal. Clementine's eyes widened from the action. The girl was obviously scared so Clementine had to try a different tactic. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." Clementine said with soothing voice.

The girl looked back up to Clementine as she continued, "My name's Clementine. What's yours?"

The girl tried to respond but nothing came out except for a squeak. The girl looked back down sadly; it's as if she couldn't speak. Clementine offered her hand to the girl and said, "That's alright. You talk when you're ready." The girl smiled to Clementine and accepted her hand. The two then walked further inside the hardware store.

**Hours Later**

Keith and Clementine sat at the edge of the garage door and looked out to the parking lot. It was now evening at Howe's and the two were enjoying a moment with each other. Inside, the boy, Gil, and his father, Randy, were asleep from the full day's work of moving bodies from within the hardware store and the surrounding parking lot. The girl that Clementine had met earlier was reading a book. She still hadn't said a word since she arrived, but Clementine was able to get her name by giving the girl a piece of paper and pen. The girl shakily wrote down that her name was 'Danielle.' Sadly, Danielle showed immense fear of Randy. Something must have happened to make her traumatized. She also seemed jittery around Keith and Gil, but she was perfectly fine around Patricia, Clementine, and AJ. Finally, Patricia was in the nursery with AJ.

"Quite a day, huh?" Clementine asked.

"Yeah, we got a group again." Keith said.

The two were soon alerted when they saw a figure approach them. At first, they reached for their guns, but they soon relaxed upon seeing who the figure was. The figure revealed himself to be the guardian of the two children. Surprisingly, he hadn't changed a bit since the children last saw him.

"NICK!" Keith and Clementine exclaimed and they both ran to the young man. Nick smiled as he crouched down and opened up his arms for the two. They ran into the young man's embrace as Nick hugged them as hard as he could.

"Oh… I missed you two." Nick said as the group hug ended. Nick held onto one of their shoulders and smiled to the two. They smiled back, and the three enjoyed a few moments with each other.

"So what happened?" Clementine asked.

"That's a long story." Nick said. He huffed and continued, "After I got out of that herd, I, eventually, found the truck that y'all were in… I also found Kenny…" Nick said sadly. Clementine reflected the young adult's movement until he continued. "Eventually, I found Wellington… That crazy woman, Edith, told me to head to Howe's, but… I knew that would have been the most logical place that y'all would go after Wellington didn't work out."

"It's good to see you again." Clementine said as Nick got back up. Nick nodded to the girl appreciatively before he turned to the structure known as Howe's Hardware.

"Come on inside." Keith said. "There's no reason why we need to stand out here in the cold."

"You got a point there, Boy Wonder. Let's head inside." Nick said. Clementine and Keith nodded and led the way to go inside the hardware store with Nick following behind. The three entered with a bit of satisfaction. Bill Carver was no longer a problem. Others would soon be drawn to Howe's since Wellington was no longer an option, and soon the group would become bigger. Things would only look up for the three and they knew it…

**THE END UNTIL SEASON 3.**

**A/N: Well, thanks to all of the authors who reviewed, favorite, and/or followed this story. And a special thanks goes out to all viewers. You guys made this story happen. So thank you! Q out!**


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